Tak Is Back
by Editor-Bug
Summary: Tak finds her way back to Earth, but she has nowhere to go!... except the house of one cute little Irken and his crazy robot! Plenty of comedy and stuff in store! My first fanfiction! ZaTr! Some one-sided DaTr & very slight SaTr.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: This is my first fanfiction! Thanks for clickin' on it! Reviews are really appreciated. I'll sort of make this up as I go along...the first chapter will be pretty short. I hope you enjoy!)

Tak sat in her cramped escape pod, watching the stars. Without any jet engine, the pod floated aimlessly through space. Any parts that could have been used to rebuild her ship, Tak had used to fix MiMi. She grumbled bitterly. Endless day in and endless day out, Tak and MiMi attempted to shift their weight to steer the pod. All the while, Tak thought of nothing but Earth. It was her last chance to convince the Tallest to make her an invader, and she failed. Why did she fail? For the same reason as her very first attempt.

ZIM.

His very name made her want to retch in disgust. He was the lunatic Irken who had made this happen to her. All for a stupid snack and a mission that wasn't even real. It made her furious to know that such an idiotic member of her race existed. She somewhat regretted the fact that she hadn't killed him when she had the chance, but she knew that he had to suffer. Much like she had. He might have been safe now, but that was all about to change.

"MiMi! Left!" barked Tak.

Tak and MiMi rammed into the left side of the space pod and a blue, green and white orb came into view. Tak put on an evil smirk.

"There is Planet Earth, MiMi..."

(A/N: Oooh...hehe! I promise the rest of the chapters will be longer and funnier! Have a nice day!)


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: Hello again! Let's get to the story already!)

The pod was being pulled toward Earth far more quickly than Tak expected. She struggled to keep her grip on the dashboard as a fiery barrier formed around her. They were entering Earth's atmosphere, locked onto Zim's location.

The windshield of the space pod cracked. Tak screamed.

XXXXXXXMEANWHILEXXXXXXX

Zim walked, well, marched along the sidewalk, making little angry grunting noises to himself. He had failed a quiz...again. How was HE supposed to know what five times two was?!

He hurried home. At least he could return to a robot who cared. Minimoose!

"Welcome home, son!" the roboparents greeted him. He ignored them and shoved his mechanical "father" aside. He sat on the couch and took his failed math quiz out of his PAK. Scowling, he threw it to the floor.

GIR inexpicably fell from the ceiling and examined the paper.

"Oooh...you got an F!" he said happily.

"GIR! Not in the mood!" Zim shouted back.

"Oh." GIR picked up the quiz and proceeded to make a hat out of it. Zim put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Minimooooose!" he called. Minimoose came down from the ceiling, smiling as usual.

"Nyah!" it squeaked in greeting.

"Go make me some doughnuts," Zim ordered the purple robot moose. It squeaked once more and then floated past GIR into the kitchen. The SIR unit looked a bit disheartened.

"I can make doughnuts too, Master..." he said in a low tone. Zim shook his head and got off of the couch.

"No, GIR. You'll mess them up. You always put your awful WAFFLE batter in there," he stopped in front of GIR. The tiny robot started smiling again."What?" Zim asked him.

"Awful waffle," GIR told him. Zim facepalmed and sighed before speaking again. He knew that GIR never stayed serious for long.

"YES. AWFUL. So awful, in fact, they make me spew superior chunks from my superior, yet sensitive belly," Zim gripped his tunic for emphasis.

"Ohhh...sensitive!" piped GIR, poking it. Zim emitted a small giggle. He kicked GIR in the head, making him fall onto his back. He continued poking at the air.

"Is somebody making doughnuts?" Skoodge chimed in, popping out of the trash can. Zim's frown deepened.

"NO!" he bellowed.

"Yes," objected Computer.

"Shut up, Computer!" Zim yelled at the ceiling. It remained silent.

"Could I have some?" Skoodge asked politely."I haven't eaten since-"

"NO!" Zim bellowed again. He removed GIR's paper hat and threw it at Skoodge's pudgy face."GET BACK INTO THE BASEME-"

"You got an F?" Skoodge interrupted, looking up from the quiz. Zim snarled viciously at him and then hissed violently. Skoodge slowly descended back into the trash can.

Zim picked GIR up and tossed him onto the couch. He was still poking at nothing, his arms making annoying little mechanical noises.

"If I got another... person...of...MADNESS living here, I would honestly lose my-!" Zim was cut off by a loud crash from just outside. He rushed to the window and took a peek. He was completely astonished by the sight with which he was met. An Irken space pod had not only destroyed part of his fence, but it had crushed one of his lawn gnomes.

"NOOOOOOOO!" he cried."MAH GNOOOOOOOOME! Wait." he looked at he pod more carefully. He turned away from the window."That's not just ANY space pod...that's an...IRKEN escape pod!" he deduced overdramatically.

GIR, Minimoose, Skoodge, Computer and the roboparents gasped, also overly dramatic. Then that green monkey in the painting gasped...then it got awkward...

Zim broke the silence.

"Whoever is in that pod could expose our race to the humans! That fool! I am NOT going to let them ruin my mission!" Never having taken off his disguise, Zim dashed outside."GIR!" GIR rushed beside him, now in disguise as well.

"You were made to retrieve information, weren't you?"

"I guess..."

"Now!" he pointed to the pod."RETRIEVE THAT CONFIRMATION!"

"..."

"Ugh!" Zim smacked himself in the forehead."I meant INFORMATION! Guh, how did I screw that up? GIR, you didn't hear that!" Just then, the pod began to open very...very...VERY...slowly. It was really...slow and boring...

XXXXXXXLATERXXXXXXX

"Do you have any, uh...ones?"

"...you already asked that, GIR. For the last time, there ARE no ones!"

"Mm..."

"Now you have to go fishing again."

"YAY! Hey, the thing's open."

"Oh." The two put the cards away and stood to face none other than Tak.

She stood upon the crashed escape pod seething with rage.

"Now, Zim...prepare to DIE!"

(A/N: Doodoodoodoo, CLIFFHANGER! Hehe! You get a doughnut if you can tell me what I just referenced! Bye!)


	3. Chapter 3

(A/N: Hey, hey, hey! Before I get on with it, just remember that reviews are VERY important to me as a beginner, so if you read this, please review, even if you just say "cool". They motivate me to write! Also, I obviously do NOT own Invader ZiM, unfortunately, Nickelodeon does...)

"AHHHHHHHH!" Zim screamed at the top of his lungs.

Tak struggled, but she found that she couldn't deploy her PAK legs. I may have forgotten to mention last chapter that she was horribly bruised and battered from the crash.

"Now...you...die..." she fell forward and landed on top of Zim.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Zim screamed again, the exact same way."GIR! Get her off of me!" he commanded his robot. GIR saluted quickly and lifted the female Irken off of his Master. Zim stood and looked inside the pod. Its contents were a broken SIR unit, a PAK, and a bunch of broken parts. Zim lifted the PAK and the SIR unit out of the wreckage with a suspicious look on his face.

"Inside, GIR! Then we will investigate the situation at hand."

"And eat doughnuts?" GIR asked with hopeful eyes.

"...yes, and eat doughnuts..."

"YAY!" They went into the base.

XXXXXXXFOURMINUTESLATERXXXXXXX

Zim and GIR sat in front of the TV eating doughnuts and enjoying the classic horror film, "Hannibal". Zim was starting to get ideas when Tak woke up.

"Huh?! Where am I? Why didn't my PAK reactivate me?" She felt her upper back and realized that her PAK was detached in the crash. THAT was why her accent was off!"Where's my PAK?!" Tak cried in a boring American accent.

"Looking for this?" taunted Zim, holding up the precious PAK. GIR paused the movie and took some of Zim's doughnuts off of his plate. Tak, slowly losing her "Takness" and therefore being TERRIBLY out of character, pleaded with Zim to return it to her.

"Zim! Please! I could die...any minute!" she used all of her strength, which wasn't much, to lunge at Zim and try to snatch the PAK from him. He smugly stepped out of the way."PLEASE, Zim! Give it back!"

"Oh, I will return it to you..." he nodded."When you tell me who you are and tell me what you're doing jeopardizing my mission!"

Tak stared at him in shock.

"ZIM! It's me, Tak! Valentine's Day! The hot dog place! SNACKS!" She felt tears forming."PLEASE, just give it back to me!" she begged. Zim looked at her her blankly for a bit, thinking.

"Oh. It's you," he spat, tossing the PAK to the relieved Irken. She put it on her back at once and her lifeclock turned off once more."That craaazy Irken female infatuated with me." At this, Tak froze.

"Cra...infatu..." she mumbled, her British accent returned. She rose upon her PAK legs and towered over Zim threateningly."Give me ONE REASON why I shouldn't kill you right now."

Zim did the same, but he lifted himself a bit higher than Tak. He sneered down at her condescendingly. She gritted her teeth in frustration.

"Because, TAK, you foolish love puppet," he threw off the pieces of his disguise into her face as he spoke and GIR caught them below the two Irkens."The vile weenie stand was destroyed after you were kicked to space, by none other than ZIM!" Tak didn't quite understand what he was implying, but she tried to ignore that as he kept talking."Look back at your PAK, would you?" She slowly did so and gasped.

There was a small hole drilled into the center of the top pink circle of the PAK. Tak turned back to Zim, horrified.

"Wh...what have you done to me, you lunatic?!" she blurted. Zim just kept smirking and turned around in response. His PAK had the same hole.

"I have inserted lifeclock bombs into our PAKs. If I die, you die. If you die, I die. IN AN EXPLOSION! DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?!"

"Okay, first of all, you don't have to yell," Tak said calmly. Zim uttered a tiny grunt.

"Second, I was never in love with you," she continued.

"Oh. Good, because I broke up with you anyway."

"..."

"..."

"...third...YOU ARE COMPLETELY INSANE!" Tak screamed. Zim began to laugh in that wonderfully evil, evilly wonderful way of his. Tak became discouraged and retracted her PAK legs.

Zim continued laughing maniacally, then he started coughing...a lot...Tak rolled her eyes as Zim finally lowered himself onto the floor. He was still smirking.

"Do you now realize my brilliance?"

"I can't believe you..."

Zim just turned toward the kitchen, leaving Tak and GIR alone. GIR just smiled and ate another one of Zim's doughnuts.

"HEY!" Tak shouted. Zim turned around."Where is MiMi?"

"By the door," he replied, pointing. Indeed, a deactivated MiMi was leaning on the wall beneath one of the windows.

"MIMI!" Tak rushed to her side and turned her over. Tak sighed with relief. Luckily, she wasn't completely broken. Tak opened up her back and deployed a small metal pin from her PAK. Zim was watching closely. A small jolt of electricity to the circuitry was able to awaken the SIR unit. MiMi sprang to life and, recognizing the environment, took on a battle stance.

"MiMi, no," Tak intervened. MiMi had slight hesitation, but she lowered her defense. Tak nodded and continued."Zim, what was that you were saying earlier about the weenie stand being destroyed?"

"That means you have nowhere to go..."

"Yeah? And?"

"AND I'M KICKING YOU OUT!"

With that, Tak and MiMi were out the door.

"Get your space pod off of my property and GET LOST!" Zim shouted after them. Then he shut the door as Tak sighed in frustration. MiMi looked to her with desperation.

"MiMi, I don't want to stay here any more than YOU do, but we really don't have any other options!" MiMi looked crestfallen. Tak considered going to Dib's house, but she thought he probably hated her since he found out that she was Irken. She also slightly considered killing herself so that Zim would die, but she decided that THAT wasn't happening. Right now, what Zim cared about most was his mission. Even if it wasn't real. Tak stood and bellowed,

"HEY! EVERYONE! HEY EVERYONE, LOOK! I'M AN ALIEN! HERE'S MY ALIEN POD AND MY ALIEN BASE! WHERE I LIVE! WITH ANOTHER ALI-"

She was pulled into the house. MiMi followed.

"Stop that! Stop...being out of character!" Zim scolded.

"...what?" queried Tak.

"Nevermind that! You're ruining my mission, you...filthy...THING...PERSON!"

"Now you're just out of insults...look, I won't expose you to the humans...on one condition."

"And what is that?"

"You let me stay here until I can find my ship! The homing sensors of the space pod said that it landed in THIS town!" she related. Zim looked angry, but also deep in thought.

"GIR!" he called out suddenly. GIR popped out of the refridgerator with a rubber chicken in his mouth.

"Yesh?" he answered, drooling. Zim smacked the chicken away.

"Tak is going to stay here..." he admitted hesitantly. He waited for GIR to respond in any way.

"...can I have my chick-chick now?" GIR finally said. Zim sighed.

"Go pick it up..." Zim decared, pointing to it. GIR rushed over and began chewing it voraciously.

"Computer! Are you UP with Tak staying here?!" Zim exclaimed to the ceiling.

"...don't you mean DOWN?" retorted Computer.

"Don't correct me! I know what I meant!"

"...sure, I'm cool with that." Computer didn't care either way.

"Minimoose?!" Zim asked for his consent and he appeared in front of the Irken.

"Nyah!"

"...roboparents?" Zim wasn't even sure why he asked for their opinion.

"Weee LOVE little girls! They make us feel so good!" the robots stated, opening their doors.

"Okay...it's unani-" Zim was cut off by the toilet clanging open.

"What about me?" Skoodge whined.

"What ABOUT you?!" Zim shrieked at him.

"I'm in favor of Tak staying here too! I think she's pretty!" Skoodge smiled at her. Tak shuddered.

"Nobody cares, Skoodge!" Zim was beginning to wonder why he hadn't kicked him out yet."As I was SAYING, it's unanimous!" He turned to Tak."Tak, you will be staying here now, as long as you keep us secret from the humans." Tak nodded and saluted. Zim did the same."At ease. Now unload your frilly female things. I'm going to have a doughnut." GIR's ears drooped.

"Actually, I'm going to have a tour of your lab, Zim," Tak told him walking into the kitchen.

"My lab? Why?!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I give you the tour?!" interrupted Skoodge, half of him sticking out of the toilet.

"Whatever..." sighed Tak. Then she turned back to Zim."I'm definitely going to need your technology," she smirked."I'm still after this planet, you know."

Tak stomped the lovestruck Skoodge down the toilet and then flushed herself and MiMi together. Zim was about to yell after them, but he decided against it. He released a puff of hot air from his mouth as he turned back into the living room. There he saw an empty plate with some crumbs on it.

"HEY! Who ate my DOUGHNUTS?!"

GIR slipped down the trash can.

(A/N: Whew! Done! Hehe! Thanks for reading! Please review! The next chapter will have them at Skool and DIB will be there! Oooh...stay tuned!)


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N: Hello. Please review. Enjoy the chapter because I worked VERY hard on it.)

The next day was Wednesday. Zim flushed himself down the toilet into the lab. There he found Tak inspecting one of his machinery projects. He frowned at her. Sneaking behind her, he kicked her in the butt.

"OW!" she cried, falling forward into the floor.

"Hey!" Zim yelled suddenly."It is time for Skooling!" He pulled his disguise out of his PAK and put it on."Let's GO."

Tak stood up, a defiant look on her face.

"And what makes you think I'm going with you?! I'm NOT going back there." She crossed her arms. Zim turned around and began walking back to the elevator.

"Or you could just...stay here with GIR..." he stepped onto the elevator.

"..."

"And Skoodge..." he mumbled.

Tak's eyes widened. She switched on her disguise and rushed onto the elevator with Zim.

XXXXXXXSOONXXXXXXX

"When are you going to get that space pod off of my lawn?! It may attract paratrooping instigators!"

"...you mean paranormal investigators?" Tak asked Zim. He shrugged, still pissed off. She sighed."I'll move it when I get back! Into your storage bay."

"You can't use my storage bay! It's...my storage bay!" Zim retorted.

"Well, according to you, I can't keep it where it is, so I'm using it!" Tak shot back. Zim let out a huff. They continued their walk down the sidewalk to Skool. Tak grimaced as it came into view.

"Why did I have to come with you?!" she complained.

"Because!" Zim replied hotly."I don't trust you in my base! ALSO, if I have to endure the horrid LEARNING..." Zim snaked his fingers around in Tak's face and she pushed them away."...then so shall YOU!" He pointed at her.

Tak rolled her eyes at him. She looked away, a bad feeling in her squeedily-spooch. It wasn't the Skool that she was concerned about, although it was horrible. It was who she would see there. She was certain that Dib, and probably Gaz were there, and they knew that she was Irken. This was what worried her.

How would Dib react towards her? Did he forget her? Did he hate her? Tak didn't know.

XXXXXXXINSKOOLXXXXXXX

When Zim and Tak entered Ms. Bitters's classroom, everyone turned to stare at them. Tak tried not to look at Dib. Ms. Bitters hissed and slithered next to Zim.

"Zim! You're two hours late!" she shrieked at him. Then she held out her hand."That's the 666th time. MY PAYMENT."

"YESSIR!" saluted Zim. He pulled a jar of blood out of his PAK and handed it to Ms. Bitters. She inspected it for a bit and then put it into her desk drawer.

"Alright, take a seat..." she muttered. Zim did so."And YOU. What are YOU doing here?"

Tak gulped, suddenly realizing how creepy her old teacher was. She didn't think she was even human...

"Um, the Deelishus Weenie corporation is out of business, so...I...have to go to Skool again...?" she replied. Everyone continued to stare at her. Zim was trying to look uninvolved.

"Fine. As much as I despise getting a new student, it's at least good to think that you should KNOW YOUR PLACE..." Ms. Bitters said in a demonic sort of way. Tak nodded slowly."Take your old seat, child..."

Hesitantly, Tak walked over and sat in the seat behind Dib. The class was normal.

Zim barely paid attention and asked off-topic questions.

Dib attempted to learn, but ended up drawing pictures of random crap.

And Tak, relieved that Dib never turned around, tried her best to focus on the lesson. But it was hard to see past such a big head...

XXXXXXXLUNCHTIMEXXXXXXX

A pile of gray glop, a brown blob and a bunch of peas served as Tak's lunch. She groaned at the sight of it. Then she roamed the cafeteria, looking for somewhere to sit. As she wandered, she passed Zim, who was just staring at his "food" looking agitated.

Tak finally sat at a table in the corner all alone. She pulled a sandwich out of her PAK, which was disguised as a backpack (her PAK, not the sandwich). Skoodge had given it to her yesterday, so she decided to eat it (the sandwich, not her PAK).

From her seat, Tak could see Dib and Gaz, sitting together as usual.

Gaz played her GS2 as Dib just sort of sat there. He was being unusually quiet. He wasn't even ranting now that Zim had been hauled off to the nurse for trying to eat that brown stuff.(A/N: Time to get his squeedily-spooch pumped! :D)

The thing was, Dib was lost in thought for once. A million questions buzzed through that titanic head of his.

He just wasn't sure how he felt about Tak being here. He never thought he'd see her again, or at least not any time soon. Yet there she was, eating a sandwich with an Irken insignia on it not even thirty feet away.

The truth was, yes, Dib DID have romantic feelings for Tak, but since he found out she was an alien, he had been surpressing them. But now that she was here, it just made it that much more difficult. Dib knew that she was a threat to Earth, and Earth was top priority, but Tak was the only "person" he had ever really felt something, a connection, with. He decided to ask about her motives during recess.

"That's JUST what I'll do!" Dib exclaimed, unaware that he had been muttering to himself for the past two paragraphs.

XXXXXXXRECESSXXXXXXX

"HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PUMPS..." Zim mumbled on his way outside from the nurse's office. Recess was the least terrible part of Skool for Zim because he was able to study the rituals of the children without consequence.

He sat on one of the swings and tried moving his legs up and down like he saw the other kids doing. He didn't swing at all. Then he noticed that one kid had another kid pushing him on the swing. Zim saw Tak pass by.

"HEY! TAK!" She turned to him. Zim pointed at his seat."PUSH!"

Tak simply scoffed, shaking her head and walked away. Zim stuck out his ziggy-zaggy tongue at her.

"WEAKLING!" he shouted."Your feeble arms could not possibly push the mighty ZIM!"

Tak suddenly dashed over, fuming, and pushed Zim in the back as hard as she could. He actually fell OFF of the swing and faceplanted a few feet in front of it. Tak stormed off once more.

Slowly, Zim picked himself up, but then he felt himself BEING picked up by someone else. He opened his eyelids to face none other than Keef.

"HEY, BUDDYYY!" Keef greeted him happily.

"Keef?!" Zim looked at Keef's eyes. They were green like his old ones."What happened to your eyes?!"

"Huh?" asked Keef, still grinning. Zim grabbed him by the collar.

"Your eyes, child!" Zim shook him."The GLORIOUS ones I gave you!"

"Oh yeah, those!" Keef remembered cheerfully. Cue flashback."After a weird incident involving a squirrel, I went to the hospital! That ride in the ambulance was SO fun! So, anyway the surgeon said that my eyes were robotic and needed to be taken out. Who knew?! The eyes were already wired into my brain sockets and they were out of anesthetic, so that part was REALLY painful! Heehee! Then they gave me these ones they had lying around! Just like my old ones, see? See, Zim? See?! SEE?!" he yelled, getting all up in Zim's grill.

"I SEE!" Zim yelled back, pushing Keef away. He just smiled in response.

"I can push you on the swings, buddy!"

"...you know what? How about I push YOU?"

"HEEEEEEE! OKAY!" Keef skipped over to the swing set and hopped into a seat.

Getting behind him, Zim extended his PAK spider legs out to his sides. He smiled an evil, yet adorable smirk.

"Ready, Keef?"

"READY, BESTEST FRIE-" Zim used the spider legs to push Keef with all their might.

Keef swung around the bar a bunch of times, squealing all the while. Finally, his grip on the chains released and he flew careening into the sun. The sky turned red for a couple of seconds and then returned to normal.

Ever smirkier, Zim stopped the spinning swing with his PAK legs and promptly retracted them. He then sauntered off to kickball to see what damage he could do there.

XXXXXXXMEANWHILEXXXXXXX

Tak sat in the spot where she had once had a talk with Dib, hoping she could explain a few things to him. He was a smart kid and Tak knew that, but she knew that this wouldn't be easy.

Not at all.

(A/N: This chapter WAS going to be a bit longer, delving into Dib and Tak's confrontation, but w'ever. I got lazy. So, that was chapter quatre. Hopefully you enjoyed Keef getting killed off in here. See you next time, please review...)


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: Hey, hey, all you people! Thanks for reading this far. Most of this has been exposition, so now the story will start going more quickly. Enjoy...)

"I thought I'd find you here," muttered Dib. Tak looked at him, still silent. Dib sat upon the fence next to her."Tak...what on Earth are you doing on Earth?!" he blurted out.

Tak stared over at him, surprised by his outburst. Dib looked VERY serious. She sighed in a somewhat sad way.

"Look, Dib," she began."I'm not here for the reason you think."

"So, you're NOT trying to conquer the planet, or...fill it with snacks and stuff?" Dib was surprised.

"No..." Tak half-lied. Yes, she was taking Earth from Zim, but that was practically saving it. Plus, she hadn't even come up with a plan yet. Dib looked relieved, but then thought of something.

"Then why ARE you here?" Dib asked her cautiously. Then Tak put her hand over his, causing him to blush a bit. He looked up at her and she was eyeing him intensely.

"I'm here for my ship," she told the boy."Then I can...leave Earth...start fresh...you know?"

That was a total lie. The only reason Tak needed her ship was to HELP with her evil plans. She wasn't an official invader and she couldn't be one without a ship. It was essential to her.

Dib's heart sank at this.

If you actually watched Invader ZiM, you would know that Dib has Tak's ship in his garage. Not only that, but he erased Tak's personality from the ship and (Gaz did most of the work...) it was repaired. He gulped. Tak was finally here, she wasn't after the planet, and all she wanted was to leave.

And Dib had the key to her escape. He looked her in the eye.

"I...wonder where it could be..." he said quietly.

"I know it's somewhere in this nameless town..." Tak sighed. She then made a small smile and turned to Dib."Until I find it, how about we be friends? You know, like old times?" She offered her hand to him.

Dib hesitated a bit, but he took Tak's hand and they shook. When they finished, Tak gave Dib's hand a tiny squeeze, making him blush again. They hopped off of the fence together.

"Tak...I just-OAAAAGH!" Zim had come out of nowhere and scissor-kicked Dib in the crotch. Dib doubled over and eventually just curled up on the ground.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!" Zim laughed at Dib in that special way that only Richard Horvitz can.

"...Zim, what are you doing?" Tak asked, trying not to get worked up. Her eyes widened as Zim grabbed her arm.

Zim pulled her into the building. Finally, Tak pulled her arm from him.

"You must remain near me at all times!" he scolded her."I don't trust you... off DOING THINGS...you could get killed or something! And then Zim would get killed or something!"

Tak groaned, annoyed with his third person speech.

"I was just talking to Dib! Look, I'm not your pet, I am your guest! Quit being such a moron! I won't tell Dib about our little 'arrangement'," she quoted."So just stay out of my way!"

She shoved Zim aside and proceeded back to class. Zim just stared after her, thinking about how stubbornly she was behaving. He let out a sigh, a bit stressed out.

"YAHHHHHH!" Dib let out a war cry as he sprinted over to Zim.

The Irken turned around and was instantly met with a kick between the legs. He let out a small grunt and Dib smirked. Unfortunately for Dib, he didn't know that Irkens didn't have balls.

Zim slowly lifted his head, smiling evilly. Dib's smirk faded. Suddenly, Zim's old organ-harvesting device shot out of his PAK, and Dib cringed at the sight of it. Horrific images and the sound of cooing flooded his brain.

"Dib...you are going to lose your skin IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF HERE!"

Dib ran for his life.

XXXXXXXAFTERSKOOLXXXXXXX

"I'm getting really tired of this, Zim!"

"Come on, come on!"

Zim gripped Tak's arm and pulled her towards the entrance to Hurt Park. As he slowed down, Tak yanked her arm back.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked the tired alien. He panted a bit before answering.

"We'll need to pass through here," he spread his arms, gesturing to the entire park."to avoid the Dib-human. If he sees us walking together, he may get...SUSPICIOUS..." he finished, up in Tak's face again.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, pushing his head away.

As they walked through the park, Zim stopped several times, just to comment on how filthy or inferior something was. It really took up time.

"Can you stop that? The whole 'stopping' thing? It's really getting annoying!" complained Tak.

Zim looked away from the fountain to face her. He seemed to have forgotten what they were doing.

"Oh, yeah," he said, rushing to catch up to her."I usually walk GIR through here on weekends. I guess the filthy, inferior scenery reminded me."

Tak chuckled at bit at the notion that Zim actually treated his robot like a dog at times.

Zim had stopped again, yelling at a tree. Tak was about to leave him there, but she suddenly stopped.

"U...U-uh..." she stammered, shaking. Zim looked over at her.

"What?! Cease those noises!" Zim commanded Tak. She suddenly pointed. Zim followed her finger and gasped at the sight. The most disgusting creature alive was headed towards him.

That creepy chihuahua with the freaky lobotomy scar.

"GYAHHHHHHH!" shrieked Zim. He ran over to Tak and latched onto her head and neck.

"Ah!" squeaked Tak, unintentionally holding him "bride style" as he leapt into her arms.

She stood there, the two of them shaking as the dog stared at them. Finally, it lost interest and trotted out of sight.

The two Irkens breathed in and out heavily several times, relieved. Then there was a long, awkward silence as their eyes met. Tak squealed, realizing how she was holding Zim, and instantly dropped him onto the pavement.

"OW!" cried Zim. He quickly sat up and rubbed his lower back.

"Come on, let's just go..." Tak spoke up, facing away from Zim."We have homework to do..." Zim heard her mutter.

He stood and trailed behind her. They were silent the rest of the way back to the base.

Zim couldn't help but notice how suddenly docile Tak had become, but that was a good thing, so he rolled with it.

As they turned, exiting the park, Zim could have sworn he saw some light pink fade from her cheek...

(A/N: Thanks for reading! Boy, this chapter turned out longer than I expected! Well, see you next time, I suppose. Don't forget to leave a review!)


	6. Chapter 6

(A/N: Ahem! Uh, a big "thank you" to those who like the story and stuff!...well, uh...yeah, let's just get on with it...)

When the duo returned home, Tak was able to move her space pod into Zim's storage bay (despite his opposition).

Then they had to do their homework. If you read the second chapter, you would know that Zim is terrible at math. Tak, on the other hand, was proficient with numbers and breezed through her work.

Within minutes, she heard Zim muttering angrily. She looked up and across the table at him. He looked like he was about to explode. Finally, he stood up in frustration. With a shriek, he flipped the kitchen table over.

"RAAAAAAUGH! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

Fuming, Zim balled up one of his worksheets and threw it at the wall. GIR happily popped out of the trash can, picked up the worksheet and went back down. He was going to make a hat out of that for sure.

Tak shoved the table off of her. She fixed Zim with a furious glare.

"YOU'RE THE IMPOSSIBLE ONE, YOU...IDIOT!" Tak screamed at him. Zim stared at her for a few seconds before responding.

"ZIM IS IMPOSSIBLY AMAZING!"

"UGH!" Tak facepalmed."You're such...a maniac! You can't do the simplest of math problems, you always talk about how 'amazing' you are when you're just a big JERK! You even ruined my life! My only chance of being an invader was CRUSHED because of YOU! AND YOU DON'T! EVEN! CARE!" she shouted. Her face was burning pink now.

Zim had nothing to say. He set the table back up and went back to his work. He was a little calmer now.

Tak stood for a few seconds just watching him. Finally, she decided to offer some sort of apology, when...

"You're just jealous that the Tallest gave Zim a mission and not you..." she heard Zim mumble.

Tak's eye twitched. She put her hands up in that "I'm done" sort of way and walked over to the toilet.

Skoodge popped out of it. He beamed at the sight of her.

"Hiya, Tak!" Skoodge greeted."Headed to the lab?"

Zim scowled just from hearing Skoodge's voice. He REALLY wondered why he hadn't kicked him out...

Tak frowned at the cheerful Irken, but then she nodded. Stepping on top of him like last time, she flushed them both. Zim didn't even glance at them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Within the elevator, Tak switched off her disguise. She thought about what just happened.

All these years, she could think of nothing and no one but Zim and how much she wanted him to suffer. Although she had many other things to think about now, she still couldn't get over Zim. The total apathy he showed for her suffering was what made it worse. Not to mention the fact that he wouldn't just leave the planet. His mission wasn't even real, but every time someone told him, he would either cut them off or accuse them of lying.

Tak sighed...again.

"So, what were you and Zimmy talking about?" Skoodge asked her. She snapped out of her thoughts.

"Ugh...look, we...'Zimmy'?" she asked. Skoodge just kept smiling at her."...anyway...Skoodge...have you ever told Zim that his mission was a lie and Tallest sent him here to die?"

"Zim's mission is a lie?!" gasped Skoodge.

"You were AT the Great Assigning when he got it!" said Tak, astonished."You're just finding this out NOW? Literally EVERY invader knows that! The Tallest even put it on Spacebook!"

"They denied my friend request..." muttered Skoodge sadly.

"...can't this elevator go any faster?!"

"We're already here..."

"Oh." Tak exited the elevator.

"Dinner's at 3 AM!" Skoodge told her.

"Yeah, okay..."

"And don't tell Zim that I still call him 'Zimmy' like when we were smeets. He doesn't like that... And I won't tell Zim that his mission is a cruel lie!" he finished, winking.

Tak threw up in her mouth a little.

"Uh...sure, whatever," she responded. The grinning Skoodge went up the elevator. Tak proceeded into the lab."MiMi!" she called.

Deeper within the underground lab, MiMi and GIR were watching the Angry Monkey Show. MiMi didn't really get it.

"MIMI!" the SIR unit heard her mistress call. She stood up.

"Aww..." whined GIR."You gotta go?"

MiMi nodded and waved quickly. She then rocketed off to her mistress's aid.

XXXXXXXITSDINNERTIMEXXXXXXX

Dinner time was very, very awkward. Tak was glaring at Zim, Zim (now out of disguise) was acting like nothing had happened, and Skoodge was being his usual smiley self. These three Irkens sat around the table, waiting for their supper.

"What's taking so long?!" Zim shouted across the kitchen.

"One more minute, milord!" replied GIR.

Since it was impossible for her to eat anyway, MiMi was helping GIR make the dinner. She was confused by the concept of putting waffle batter into the nacho cheese, but that was what GIR signaled for her to do, so she did it. GIR poured the waffle cheese onto the nachos and grinned.

"DONE!" he exclaimed, putting the tray of chips on the table. Then he took off his chef hat and sat between Zim and Skoodge. Indifferent, MiMi sat between Tak and Zim.

And so, the quintet of aliens and robots ate the nachos. And the cheese was really tasty. Still, though, it was quite silent and boring. MiMi sat, watching the four eat. She rubbed the space where a mouth was supposed to be. Upset, she continued to remain in silence.

After supper, Zim gave GIR a new rubber piggy for the excellent meal. GIR hugged it excitedly.

"What's this one do?! What's this one DOOOO?!" yelled GIR. You see, recently, Zim had been making actually useful rubber piggies. One could inflate, another had a grappling hook, etcetera. Zim watched GIR hop up and down in distaste before responding.

"THIS one, GIR, I have programmed to FIRE DEATH LASERS FROM ITS TAIL!"

"Ooooh..." GIR flipped it over.

"Test it out on SKOODGE THERE!" ordered Zim, pointing. Skoodge's antennae drooped.

"Waitwaitwait-OW!" cried Skoodge as GIR fired the piggy laser at him. He fled, and GIR continued to chase him, giggling crazily.

"Hmph," snorted Tak, pushing past Zim. He looked at her angrily for a second, but then he remembered something.

"Tak!"

"WHAT?"

"Er...I am..."

"..."

"...uh-"

"WHAT. IS IT?" Tak asked impatiently.

"...er, I realize that some of my previous actions were 'not well taken'..." he quoted, and Tak's frown deepened."So...I apolghmf..."

"...what?"

"I'm...sormmhygh..." Now he was just covering his mouth. Tak moved it out of the way. None too gently, might I add...

"WHAT?!"

"I'M SORRY, OKAY?! I, ZIM, AM APOLOGIZING TO YOU!" he blurted loudly.

Tak was taken aback by this. She stared at him a bit, trying to see if he was sincere. Zim stared back nervously. Eventually, Tak sighed. Her curiosity had officially been peaked, and that wasn't a simple task with someone like her.

"What do you need...?" she asked. Tak knew that Zim probably wouldn't apologize to someone unless he needed their help. Zim NEVER regretted his actions.

"I need you to help me steal something."

(A/N: And...DONE! WHEW! That took a while because I kept having problems saving! But, it's done, and I will appreciate your praise. I'm going to go have a big boy snack. Until next time, my reader, enjoy life. Au revoir.)


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N: Hey, you all! Cake and ice cream to all those who review, fave and follow! Er, if you're lactose intolerant...I am sorry. By the way, this story WILL get dramatic at times, but I promise to make up for it with humor later on. But enough lip out of me. ONTO THE STORY, HUMANS!)

"Can I come?! Can I pleeeease come?!" begged Skoodge.

"NO!" Tak and Zim yelled at him.

It was Saturday. This was always the day Zim chose to do something really terrible. There was no specific reason for that...he just did.

The previous two days, he and Tak had stayed home from Skool planning the steal of the millenium. And what a steal it would be.

Fully disguised, the two Irkens and their SIR units left Skoodge at the base.

"TOOO THEEE MINIMALL!" declared GIR.

"I was supposed to say that!" scolded Zim.

XXXXXXXATTHEMINIMALLXXXXXXX

"So, we just walk in through the front doors?" asked a skeptical Tak.

"That is the plan!" Zim answered her. As soon as the quartet stepped through the automatic doors, Tak sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that week.

"I don't know why in the bloody heck I agreed to help you with this..."

"Believe me, Tak, it will benefit us both in the longru-LOOK AT THAT!" Zim had pointed to a large, inflated moose. There was a man standing in front of it, wearing a ridiculous moose hat. He didn't look very happy to be at work...

"Happy Moose Day..." he droned. Zim shoved him out of the way. He and GIR enthusiastically hugged the moose's inflatable legs.

"Mooooooose..." sighed the two.

Yes, today was Moose Day, a day when all moose-lovers and enthusiasts revel in moosey activities and snacks! And all non-believers are burned at the stake! Haha! Had Zim and Tak attended Skool, they would be creating moosey arts & crafts and such. And that's pretty much all you need to know about MOOSE DAY! WINK!

Tak shook her head as she approached the moose-huggers. It was pretty impossible to NOT think that they looked really adorable snuggling that moose inflatable, but these guys had a job to do.

"Come ON!" instructed Tak, yanking them away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Our, ahem..."heroes" were hiding behind a cardboard cut-out of Jhonen Vasquez in a corner. Mr. Vasquez himself was on the scene, signing a variety of moose merchandise to promote his favorite holiday, Moose Day. And yes, Zim, Tak, GIR and MiMi are all small enough to hide behind that cut-out and stay completely out of sight. They're that. Freaking. Small.

"Alright,"began Zim. He produced a small light fixture from his PAK so that they could see."GIR and MiMi, keep all of the people in the west side. Tak and I will move through the grates and steal 'the prize'. When we have it secure, we bust the security codes and we all run like the mighty Tallest Dickens. Any questions?"

GIR raised his hand and Zim nodded at him.

"Do we get ta get autographs from Jhony after?"

"Ugh, IF WE HAVE EXTRA TIME! Any OTHER questions?"

Tak raised her hand and Zim nodded.

"Why are you so happy about Moose Day?"

"Oh, the Earth meese are quite cute," he commented."You'd be astonished by what they can do to your walnuts!" Tak's holographic eyebrows shot up at Zim's idea of "cute". Suddenly, his green face became dead serious."BUT SOMETIMES...THEY FAIL YOU."

Tak chose not to respond to that.

"Any questions, MiMi?" Zim asked the robot.

"..."

"...None? Okay, then. LET'S MOVE OUT!" announced Zim. Everyone nodded.

GIR and MiMi stepped out into the open. They walked over to the signing area where all the people were. Now they just had to get all of them to move to the other side of the minimall. GIR thought and thought of a way to distract them. MiMi pointed to a poster with her holographic tail. It was a poster on the penalties of the anti-moose. GIR grinned, having gotten an idea.

"HEY!" he yelled. The entire crowd turned to stare at the little green dog and the demonic looking cat thing.

There was a long, awkward silence as the humans all stared at them, and GIR stared back, smiling. Finally, MiMi gave him a kick to jog his memory.

"Mooses are ugly and stupid!" he bellowed at them."I LIKE PIGGIES BETTER!"

The people all gasped.

"NON-BELIEVERRR!" shouted Jhonen, pointing at GIR. The crowd went into a frenzy and began chasing the two.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seeing that the coast was clear, Zim and Tak hoisted themselves into the minimall's vents with their PAK legs. They crawled, Zim in front, until they reached the area over where all the people had left. Luckily, the security was gone too. Zim opened the grate below him. He sighed dreamily.

"Ah...this reminds me of my day of organ thievery back in Skool..." he said in nostalgia. (A/N: I just love that episode, okay?)

"No time for over-romantisized memories!" Tak hissed."Where's the rope?"

"Right here!" Zim pulled a rope out of nowhere.

Choosing not to question any of this, Tak swiftly tied the rope around her waist and handed the other end to Zim.

"Don't drop me!" she warned him."Or we'll get caught!"

Zim rolled his eyes, but agreed anyway.

"Yes, yes, now jump out!"

Tak hesitated a bit, then leapt out of the vents.

"Ah...!" she squealed as she saw herself quickly nearing the floor. At the very last second, the rope pulled taut and Tak remained about two inches off of the ground. From above, she heard Zim snicker to himself.

"Not funny!" she whisper-shouted upwards.

"Shut up!" he called back."Do you want to get us caught?!"

"No, but YOU seem to!"

"Just GRAB it already!"

Tak turned back to "the prize". The GLORIOUS prize that you know won't be revealed until the end of the chapter! She grasped it tightly and freed it of its shackles. Then she pulled on the rope to let Zim know to pull her up, but unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention and let go of the rope.

"OUCH!" she exclaimed, hitting the floor. Suddenly, an alarm attached to "the prize" began to go off quite loudly. Tak gasped.

Elsewhere, across the minimall, the crowd was preparing to burn GIR and MiMi at the stake when they heard the alarm sounding. Realizing what was happening, they carried the stake, which GIR and MiMi were tied to, and headed to the source of the noise.

Within seconds, Tak saw them approaching and gasped.

"ZIM!" She looked up into the vent. Zim was gone. Her face twisted with rage."THAT...LITTLE..."

"GET THE THIEF!" cried a random guy in the crowd.

Tak took hold of "the prize", and ran like the mighty Tallest Dickens. He was the swiftest of ALL the Tallest!

The crowd was beginning to gain on her, and "the prize" was pretty heavy for its size. Just when Tak thought they would catch her, she was pulled around a corner.

"WHA-" A gloved hand covered her mouth.

The furious crowd passed by. How they didn't see her go around that corner, Tak would never know.

"Good. They're gone," said Zim, relieved.

"Zim?!"

"Do you still have 'the prize'?"

"Uh, yeah, it's here..."

"Excellent. Where's GIR?"

"And MiMi?"

"HERE WE ARE!" GIR exclaimed from right next to them. Zim and Tak jumped in surprise.

"But weren't you just...? How did you...?" stammered Tak.

"We escaped!" piped GIR. MiMi looked uncomfortable.

"Uh...never mind..." said Tak.

"ALSO excellent!" declared Zim."Onto the final phase!"

"TOOO MEXICO!" announced GIR.

"STOP STEALING MY LINES, GIR!"

XXXXXXXINMEXICOXXXXXXX

"So...this is authentic?" the clerk asked for the umpteenth time.

"YES. AUTHENTIC," Zim answered for the umpteenth time.

He, Tak, GIR and MiMi were in a black market in Mexico. They were selling off their prize...which was a moose. But not just ANY moose. This was the only living pygmy albino moose, and the MASCOT of Moose Day! Do you have any idea how much that moose costs?!

"Look, kid," sighed the clerk."who are you and where did you get authentic American Moose Day mascot?"

"WHA...I AM ZIM!" Zim shrieked at him."I AM OVER TWO HUNDRED YEARS OLD, AND YOU ARE GOING TO BUY MY MOOSE!"

"Yeah, okay..." said the clerk, a little weirded out. He pressed a few buttons on the cash register.

"So, how much is it?" Tak peered over the counter.

"Mm, about two million dollars," replied the clerk.

"CHIMICHANGA!" excaimed Zim in surprise.

"You mean 'cha-ching'..." mumbled Tak.

Ignoring her, Zim turned to GIR, who was cuddling the tiny white moose.

"GIR~!" he said in a singsong voice. GIR turned to face him."GIR, we need the moose now~!"

"Awww, can't we keep it?" he whined, clutching it.

"GIR! GIVE IT TO ME!" yelled Zim, suddenly serious. He pried the moose out of his robot's grasp.

"NO! NOOOOOO!" wailed GIR as Zim sold it.

"YES! TWO MILLION DOLLARS!" cheered Zim, looking into his new suitcase full of money.

"Ooooh, money!" GIR chimed, stepping over to it. Zim yanked it away.

"NO, GIR! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" But he was a smidgeon too late. GIR jumped and ate the suitcase. Whole.

"Mmm, counterfeit-y!" mused GIR. Zim curled up on the floor, quivering. Tak frantically turned to the clerk's desk.

"Can we have a refund?!"

"Sorry, we're closed."

With that, the four were out the door and the market was locked up. GIR dragged Zim's limp body as they got up and they made their way back to the base.

XXXXXXXBACKATTHEBASEXXXXXXX

"Well, that was a complete failure..." muttered Zim.

"I wouldn't say that!" GIR offered. As if on cue, he burped up three fifty dollar bills. Zim caught them eagerly.

"MY MONEY!" he said, excited."My plethora of Earth currency HAS RETURNED!"

"And...you think that's two million dollars?" Tak asked.

"I think I know two million dollars when I see it, TAK! I'm quite good with numbers," he snapped."Oh...all the evil I can do with this..." He started kissing the money.

"EW..." Tak said in disgust."Well, money IS the root of all evil..."

"Here!" said Zim, holding out a bill."You get a third of it and I get the rest!"

"Uh..." Tak stared at the money."You were just kissing it, for crying out loud!"

"Just TAKE it before I change my mind!" Zim snapped again. Tak gingerly took the dollar. Yeah. It was definitely counterfeit... Zim stepped over to the toilet. His hands full of money, he pointed to the seat. GIR opened it for him and went down first. Tak heard Zim mumble something.

"What?" she asked.

"Zim thanks you for your help," He flushed himself down into the lab.

Tak stood and thought. Finally, she dashed over to the toilet and happily called down,

"Tak thanks you for the money!"

(A/N: Wow, that was long, and...really not as good as I planned. W'ever, it was still good! Hey, Dib hasn't been in the last two chapters! WHO MISSES HIM?!...no one? Oh, well. He'll be in the next one. By the by, if you're confused by ANYTHING, I promise, I shall explain later. Scout's honor! Well...review, fave, follow and check out my other stories. A tout a l'heure, mes amis!)


	8. Chapter 8

(A/N: Goshes golly gee! Chapter huit already! In case you haven't noticed, I speak French. Well, onto the story!)

The next day was Sunday. This may have been hard to believe, but by now, Zim and Tak could ACTUALLY stand each other! Well, for a few minutes. And by now, Tak had reached her limit.

She and Zim were SUPPOSED to be looking for her ship, but Zim had brought GIR along and forced them to stop at Hurt Park so he could walk him. It was cutting majorly into their search time. Tak sat upon a park bench, waiting for them to come back around.

"Tak!" she heard a familiar voice call. She turned her head right and saw Dib running towards her. She panicked a bit. If Dib saw her here with Zim, he would know something was going on between them! Their "alliance"!

"Tak, hi!" greeted Dib, slowing down.

"Hello, Dib...!"

"You haven't been in Skool for the past couple of days. Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Uh, yeah, just...settling into my new base..." she trailed off. Dib nodded knowingly.

"Hey, are you busy right now?"

"Not particularly."

"Do you wanna...go somewhere? With me?"

Tak's eyes widened.

"I mean, to look for your ship, or...whatever..." Dib continued.

"Er..."

"What is ZIM doing here?" Dib pointed at him and fixed him with a glare. He and GIR were making their way around the fountain.

"Excuse me for a second," said Tak, hopping off of the bench. She dashed over to Zim and tackled him into a bush. Being pulled by his leash, GIR also fell in.

"What are you doing?!" Zim asked her angrily. Tak ducked down lower into the bush."And, GUH, why are you getting so close?!"

"Keep your voice down!" she shushed him."Dib is close by!"

"The Dib?" Zim was able to pull himself over Tak so that he could peek out of the shrub. Sure enough, Dib was near that bench not too far away. Luckily, he couldn't see Zim among the green leaves.

"UGH!" groaned Tak, her body being pushed down by Zim's. She shoved him off of her."NOW who's getting so close?!"

"Now who needs to keep their voice down?!" Zim shot back.

"Look, I'm going to go and look for my ship with Dib now."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because he asked POLITELY, and, well, I haven't really had a chance to spend time with him since I got here!" When she looked at Zim, he was giving her that "really?" face. She groaned and stood."I don't know what your problem is..."

"ZIM HAS NO PROBLEM!" Zim yelled after her.

Tak waved at Dib as she approached him.

"Hi, sorry about that. Zim has been...stalking me a lot lately."

"Oh...let me know if he gives you trouble," Dib told her. Tak nodded. The two began to exit the park."Hey, do you mind if we make a few stops on the way?"

Zim was unable to hear Tak's answer to that question as he popped out of the bush.

"GOODNESS AND GRACIOUS AND GREAT BALLS OF DOOKIE, THEY'RE LEAVING!" he exclaimed.

"So?" GIR asked nonchalantly. He was still lying in the bush. Zim stared at him for a bit before continuing.

"What could Dib possibly want to do with Tak? He knows she's Irken, the idiotic big-head child!...I should see what he's up to!"

"We gonna follow them?!"

"Yes, GIR!" Zim slid out of the bush."Follow your master!"

(A/N: Ugh, REALLY sorry that that was SO short and took SO long! I just started high school and haven't really been on the internet a lot! But don't fret! The chapter neuf is in progress, and it'll be much better. Remember, I appreciate you. Mostly your reviews. Plus, I'm working on ANOTHER Adventure Time one-shot, so check that out when it's done...uh...au revoir.)


	9. Chapter 9

(A/N: Salut, mes copains! Enjoy the chapter!)

Dib and Tak hadn't made much progress. Doing his best to avoid his house, Dib led Tak into alleys, empty lots and other places you wouldn't find an alien spaceship if you were ever looking for one. Finally, Tak had grown tired of searching.

"Dib," She placed a hand on his shoulder."Let's take a break."

"Oh! Okay!" he stammered. A warm feeling filled his chest whenever Tak put her hand on him, which wasn't often.

The two sat down on the sidewalk to rest in awkward silence.

"You...wanna...get some food?" Dib eventually asked.

"Er, Earth food isn't quite my thing."

"Then what DO Irkens eat?"

"Chips, sandwiches, doughnuts, cookies, you know, snacks and stuff."

"Oh...neat!" Dib stood up."There's a doughnut place down the street. Let's go!"

"Yeah, okay."

So, Dib and Tak strolled down the street, completely unaware of the fact that Zim was watching them intently from atop a nearby building.

XXXXXXXDOUGHNUTSXXXXXXX

"Six chocolate doughnuts, please."

"...aren't you that kid who came charging in here with a stake last week screamin' about 'vampire doughnuts'?"

"YES..."

The guy shrugged, snatched Dib's money and handed him the box with the half dozen doughnuts inside.

As Dib and Tak turned and walked away from the counter, Tak giggled.

"Vampire doughnuts?" she teased.

"Hey, they could've been!" Dib replied blushingly.

"You're kind of famous around here, huh?" she asked, scooting into a seat.

"Haha, infamous is more like it..." Dib muttered nervously. Tak just smiled at him as he sat down across from her. There, he opened the box of fried dough circles and they dug in.

Meanwhile, up on the rooftop of the doughnut shop, Zim was kneeling near the edge with GIR clinging to his head. He had been able to use his PAK legs to scale the buildings and follow Dib and Tak there. Now if only he could spy on them unseen...

"GIR!"

"You want summa my SuckMunkey?!" The robot pulled a drink out of nowhere and waved it in his master's face. He snatched it.

"No! GIR! Listen! You must lower me above the window," he noticed GIR's sad expression and sighed."THEN you can have your filthy drink! But keep it down!"

"Mm-hmm!"

Luckily for Zim, Dib and Tak were sitting fairly close to the window. Dib's back was to it, and there was no way Tak would be able to see past his head, so they were well out of sight.

Slowly, GIR lowered Zim in front of the window, gripping his waist and ankles. Eventually, he was able to see Dib and Tak, and told GIR to hold on there. As people passed by, they were bewildered by the sight of a green dog lowering a green child in front of the window of a doughnut shop.

Zim put his head to the glass and tried to hear what the human and Irken were saying. Unfortunately for him, GIR got bored quite easily. He groaned in impatience, nearly dropping Zim, who was about fifteen feet off the ground.

"Can I have my SuckMunkey nowww?!" he whined. Zim, who was still holding it, shushed GIR.

"NO! And I said keep it down, they'll notice us!"

"MWEHHH~" THAT strange noise escaped GIR's mouth as he tried to grab for it.

"No, GIR!" Zim pulled his arms up...which was really DOWN, in an attempt to keep the drink from GIR.

"Gimme!"

"NO! NO, GIR! STOP TICKLING ME, AHH!" Zim kicked GIR away, which caused the Irken to fall off the roof. Although, just as he was about to get very hurt, he used his PAK's spider legs to catch himself. GIR leapt upon him and took the SuckMunkey, drinking greedily from it. Zim simply rolled his eyes and raised them back onto the rooftop. They peeked in through the side window, which was higher.

"Egads!" Zim said in surprise.

"Whazzat?" GIR looked up from his now empty cup.

"The Dib...his filthy cheek meat is red!" replied Zim, pulling himself back up."IS HE GOING TO EXPLODE?!"

GIR looked down through the window for a few seconds and came back up, a bashful grin on his green puppy face.

"Awww, he blushin'!" cooed GIR, squishing his cheeks."I think he likes herrr!"

"TELL ME MORE!" Zim grabbed GIR by the zipper and shook him.

"Uh, well...UHHH...HUHHH..." GIR grunted. As he thought, Zim released him."OH! When a head pigeon and a death bee love each other VERY much...oh wait, wrong one...er," GIR noticed Zim staring at him with angry impatience."Weeell, when a boy likes a girl, then THAT happens!" he finished.

"A boy...likes a girl...?" Zim looked down at Dib again real quick."...ehe...ehehe...EHAHAHAHAHA! AHHHHAHAHA!"

This earned the stares of many more passersby. Finally, Zim finished cackling.

"Oh, how wealthy!" he cried, smirking."The Dib-human, enamored with Tak. Isn't that HILARIOUS, GIR?!"

"Hehehe, yeah!" he giggled."It's a laugh AND a bag of Poopcorn!"

"GIR, you are SO naive," chuckled Zim. GIR smiled back at him."Oh, well...now that this is out of the way, let's get on to the next act of EVIL against the humans! If I prolong its execution any longer, I'll probably break out in a rash."

So Zim got on GIR's back and they flew to the destination of their plan.

XXXXXXXLATERXXXXXXX

Tak returned to Zim's base to find MiMi and Minimoose watching TV. She sighed heavily at the sight of her elite SIR unit watching ads for Acne Blast.

But, being in a good mood, she didn't scold her for it. She switched off her disguise and walked over to the two robots.

"Is Zim here?" she asked.

MiMi shook her head.

Bored, Tak sat at the dining table. It had been hard to get Dib away from her, since he offered to walk her home to make up for the fact that her ship had not been found. Of course she had to refuse and then hurry out of his sight.

She was making a mental note to pay Dib's house a visit when the door slammed open.

Zim and GIR stepped in, holding a large tan burlap sack. Zim cleared his throat.

"Salutations!" he greeted, wearing that overly enthusiastic grin of his.

"What took YOU so long?" Tak asked suspiciously.

"We didn't do anything out of the ordinary!" replied Zim in a friendly manner."Just had a long walk with my puppy, GIR!"

"Yeah!" agreed GIR, his tail wagging as Zim petted him."We weren't kidnapping anyone! OW!" he cried, for Zim had scratched a bit too hard.

There was a silence as Tak stared at the two and they stared back.

"Who's in the sack...?" she finally asked, pointing to it.

Zim groaned and opened it. Tak's jaw dropped.

(A/N: Cliffhanger, WHOO! I've been WANTING to do a cliffhanger! SO! Who do you think is in the sack, huh? Is it Gaz? Is it Professor Membrane? Is it Ms. Bitters?! YOU DON'T KNOW!)


	10. Chapter 10

(A/N: Bonjour! We're finally at chapter ten! Don't worry, this story is far from over! Enjoy!)

"PRESIDENT MAN?!" exclaimed Tak.

"Shut your mouth up! You'll inadverdantly activate his conscienceness!" Zim warned her in a whisper.

"Why did you kidnap the president?!" she whispered hoarsely.

"Why wouldn't I?" shrugged Zim like it would be stupid not to.

Tak growled and grabbed the front of Zim's invader tunic. She put her fist into readied punching position.

"Alright, alright!" Zim pulled his tunic back and smoothed it out."Allow Zim to explain."

XXXXXXXSOONXXXXXXX

Zim and Tak sat at the dining table while MiMi and Minimoose watched GIR draw on the unconscious president's face with Mystic Marker.

"You probably wouldn't know it, Tak, but the most powerful person on the planet...is the president," Zim exposed dramatically.

"I _did _know tha- -"

"DO YOU SEE WHAT KIND OF HAVOC COULD BE WREAKED IN HIS ABSENCE?!" Zim exclaimed, suddenly up on the table and in Tak's face.

"WHOA," she uttered.

"So you see why he has to be kidnapped," finished Zim, getting back into his seat.

"And your plan here is...?"

"I can do WHATEVER I WANT! The humans are powerless without their leader!"

"Then why not just kill him? Then the humans can't just rescue him."

"You fail to understand," Zim shook his head."Once I have had my fun, then I shall return the President Man in exchange for WORLD DOMINATION! IT'S GENIUS!"

Tak put a finger to her chin. She had to admit, this was a pretty good plan...

"...but what if they refuse?" she asked.

"Heh?"

"What if the humans refuse to give you world domination?" Tak restated."And even if they agree, what prevents them from just revoking it once they have their president back?" She saw Zim's eye twitch with exasperation.

"You just have to spoil everything for me, don't you?" he asked rhetorically. He stood up and began walking over to President Man."I suppose I'll have to return him."

"How did you manage to capture him in the first place?"

"Oh, uh..."

Suddenly, Minimoose turned on the TV. It was showing the news.

"We're presidentless, people! PRESIDENTLESS!" the reporter screamed into the camera. Then a wrecking ball knocked him to the ground. As could now be seen in the background, the United States was in total chaos. People stealing, commiting suicide, even animals were going crazy!

"Just LOOK at all that mayhem!" grinned Zim."It's as if the humans are doing my job for me! They're destroying themselves!"

"Zim! This is NOT a good thing!" Tak told him."True, it's great to see the humans so destructive, but what about when it gets out of hand?"

"Out of hand? What do you mean?"

Just then, an axe crashed through the window and embedded itself into the wall, narrowly missing President Man.

"...THAT'S what I mean by out of hand. You have to take him back to the White House."

"Oh, I didn't find him at the White House," said Zim matter-of-factly.

"What?" Tak crossed her arms."Then where DID you find him?"

XXXXXXXCLUBBINXXXXXXX

"A CLUB?!" Tak exclaimed."Why was the president of the United States at a club?!"

"I don't know what he does in his spare time!" Zim dragged the sack up to the sidewalk in front of the club."Now SHUSH! I don't want everyone in town to know I stole their leader!"

"YOU shush, you loudmouthed little twerp! Hurry and put him back!"

"Sheesh. The SASS..." Zim pulled the sack behind him, through the doors, but as soon as he did, he was pushed back out."What is the meaning of this?!"

A huge, burly guard stepped out.

"You have to be twenty-one to enter this club, kid," he told Zim.

"...so, when the entire country goes to chaos, THAT rule still remains. Okay," Tak said skeptically.

"I am OVER twenty-one Earth years, pathetic club human!" Zim told him.

"Are you?" The guard remained stone-faced."I find that VERY hard to believe."

"Look, bub!" Tak spoke up."We are a couple of tiny FBI agents, and if you don't let us through, every waking moment of your life from now on will be a swirling torrent of pain and misery! And DOOM."

Zim held back his snickers as Tak walked up to the guard intimidatingly. The human looked like he was going to soil himself.

"L-Look, I don't want any trouble with the FBI! I didn't- -"

"Then I strongly suggest you step aside before you GET trouble!" Tak interrupted.

"Of course! Right away!" he stammered, moving out of the way.

Zim, dragging the sack, and Tak walked past him into the club. Once they got in, they burst out laughing.

And I'm sure I don't even need to say it, but Zim's epicly maniacal laughter mixed with Tak's sickeningly sweet high-pitched laughter made for quite the enjoyable ear rape.

"Tak!" Zim said between giggles."Posing, as the mighty FBI! HAHA!"

"AHHHAHAHA! Did you see his face?! What a wimp! Hehe!" she managed to respond.

Finally, they finished their merriment and looked at each other.

"Ahem!" Awkwardly, Zim cleared his throat."Let's hurry and put the man president back."

"Oh, uh, right," nodded Tak.

The two reached the place in the club where Zim had found President Man. And it was NOT...where Tak expected.

"The men's room?!" she cried.

"You just LOVE to yell today, don't you?" replied Zim sarcastically, now pulling the sack in through the door."Come on, Tak!"

"I can't go in there!" She raised her hands defensively.

"Ugh, fine!" Zim groaned, rolling his eyes."I'll do it myself!" Then he pulled the sack in and closed the door behind him.

"Doesn't look much like my base..." he mumbled once he was inside.

Quickly, Zim opened the first stall he found and dumped the sack into it. He didn't think that that looked quite right, so he pulled down President Man's pants before leaving. No homo.

"It's done!" he told Tak once he was outside.

"Alright!" Tak stood up."Let's get the heck of out of here!"

XXXXXXXONEHOURLATERXXXXXXX

"And so, President Man has finally returned for his people, just they always prophecized he would..." the news reporter stated with content.

"I am so HAPPY too be back, y'all!" piped the president, his pants still down (via Zim) and a marker moustache on his face (via GIR). He twitched his arms."...uh, where did I go?"

"Ah..." sighed Zim as he turned off the TV."And so, the pitiful mankind are reunited with their control brain..."

"You know, I still hate you, Zim," Tak narrowed her deep purple eyes.

"I still hate YOU!" Zim pointed at her.

"HMPH!" They both crossed their arms and turned away from each other.

"Who wants nachos with awful waffle cheeeeese?!" asked GIR, stepping out of the kitchen with a fresh tray.

Well...NO ONE could turn that down! So they rushed into the kitchen and ate together. And they slightly enjoyed each other's company. Thanks to the awesome power of waffle cheese.

(A/N: REALLY sorry if you think that took too long! I was working on two other Adventure Time stories plus an Ed, Edd N Eddy story, which is up. That plus high school makes me a very busy bee! But I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm gonna...tone it down with the French from now on...ALSO! Do YOU think I should start naming my chapters? Let me know in the reviews or PM me! Well, review, fave, follow and all that. Until next time, valued reader!

PS, for all the Dib/DaTr fans, the next chapter will MOSTLY be about that, but that's all I'll say for now...au revoir...)


	11. Chapter 11

(A/N:...now that I think about it...the previous chapter was sort of T rated...hehe...onto the story...)

If you've been paying close attention, you would now that today is Monday. But instead of skipping to Skool, let's start at four in the morning!

Zim rose out of his toilet with an angry expression on his (CUTE) face. His antennae twitched as he heard Tak's scream. He growled, stepping out of the bowl and into the kitchen.

"Skoodge, stop harrassing Tak!" he yelled down into the toilet."At first it was amusing, but now it's just creepy!"

Zim turned around in surprise when he heard another sound. At one of his front windows, he saw a few pebbles hit the glass. He made sure put on his disguise before running over and opening it.

"Who dares throw rocks at the window of Ziii- -?!"

"Zim!" A boy with scythe-shaped black hair interrupted the alien.

"Eh? Dib!" He glared down at him."What are you doing here, you worm?"

"Hey!" Dib pointed accusingly."I'm the one with the question!"

"Why are you even awake?" Zim ignored Dib's statement."Is this not the time for humans to 'sleep'?"

"Uh..."

"What, do you lurk around my base every morni- -"

"That is NOT important!" Dib cut off Zim again. He then gestured toward the huge crater in Zim's lawn that was behind the giant hole in his fence."What the heck happened to THAT?!"

"...that is...none of your concern!" Zim answered awkwardly. He silently cursed himself for not taking care of that yet.

"None of my concern, huh?" Dib looked skeptical."Well, in case you haven't noticed, TAK is back in town!"

"I..._have _noticed..."

"I'm sure you have! And SHE tells ME that you've been 'stalking' her."

"What?!" Zim nearly fell of the window sill."I would never- -!"

"Listen, Zim!" The human interrupted him once more."Tak is NOT here for the reason you think she is! So just stay away from her!"

"I have heard enough of your noise, Earth-smell! GNOMES!"

At his command, Zim's three remaining gnomes grabbed ahold of Dib and began to drag him away.

"Ah! Hey! Nngh! OUCH!" he exclaimed as he was tossed out onto the sidewalk by the gnomes. The trio proceeded to block Dib's path back inside.

"I'm serious, Zim!" Dib yelled over the gnomes."Mess with Tak and you'll be sorry! NYAH! OW!"

Dib fled down the street as the gnomes continued to fire lasers that scorched his trenchcoat.

"Heh-heh. Idiot..." Zim grinned a sinister grin and promptly shut the window.

XXXXXXXLATERTHATEXACTSAMEDAYXXXXXXX

"DIB! Time for Skool!" shouted Gaz, slamming her brother's door open. He woke with a start and looked at the clock.

"Why are you checking the clock?" Gaz asked, rolling her eyes."I already SAID it's time for Skool."

"Already?!" Dib looked over at her."It doesn't feel like I slept that much!"

"That's probably because you got up early to peep at Zim again," Gaz leaned against the door as she spoke."Or that's just the side effect of having a head that big."

"Hey!...my head's not big!"

"Whatever you say, crazy. Just hurry and get your butt downstairs!" She turned and exited the room.

As the two walked to Skool, Dib couldn't get what Tak had told him out of his mind.

Why would Zim be stalking Tak? It was obvious that she wasn't even after the planet anymore, Dib didn't get it. That, and the damage to Zim's property...how secretive he was about it...nothing made sense! Plus, the fact that Tak's ship was fully operational and in Dib's garage didn't help the situation at all...

"Stop talking to yourself already," said Gaz, irritated.

"Shoot, I was doing it again..." muttered Dib. He ran to walk beside his little sister."It's just so overwhelming! I mean, Tak has returned! And I have her ship and stuff- -"

"Okay, hold up," Gaz put a finger to his lips."Say all that again, except this time, take out anything that doesn't have to do with me."

"..."

"That's what I thought."

XXXXXXXEVENLATERTHATEXACTSAMEDAYXXXXXXX

"And that is why acid rain is my favorite type of weather," finished Ms. Bitters."Any questions?" Dib raised his hand."No? Good, I thought not," the teacher said dejectly. Dib slowly lowered his hand.

From behind him, Tak smirked. Hoping he would share in her amusement, she looked over at Zim. But instead of sneering at his enemy's rejection, Zim was glaring at her.

Tak frowned and ignored it.

She didn't care if Zim was mad at her and she didn't care why. She hated him anyway. Then again, he was really the only person she had left. Oh, right. She still had MiMi. And Dib. Oh, well. Tak shook her head and got back to work.

XXXXXXXSKOOLSOUTYOXXXXXXX

After skool, Tak exited the building and looked around. There was no sign of Zim amongst the children. He had returned to his base without her.

Tak let out a huff and began to walk home alone. As she walked, she unfortunately forgot which way to go, the way Zim told her to go in order to avoid Dib. So, she ran into him and Gaz...joy...

"Hey, Tak!" Dib called out to her. Gaz groaned beside him.

"Oh! Um! Hello, Dib..." Tak replied uncomfortably. She really didn't feel like talking to him right now."Gaz! How are you, love?"

"Nngh..." moaned Gaz. She crossed her arms and walked on home.

"So! Anyway," Dib cut the silence."Zim hasn't been bothering you or anything, right?"

"...no! Of course not!" Tak waved her hand nonchalantly."He's just, you know...Zim."

"Oh. Well, what's up with his yard? It's all wrecked and stuff," He smiled slyly and pointed at her."You did that, didn't you?"

"Yep!" she looked to the side guiltily."That was me...well, I'll see you later, Dib, okay?"

She gave him no time to answer and dashed off.

(A/N: AAAGH! I'm so sorry! Not only did I take forever with this chapter, but it didn't turn out very GOOOOD! I've just been busy in school because I have all GT classes and right now I'm FAILING, so my internet time has been restricted! I promise, whenever the next chapter is, it shall be better! I planned ahead!

Also, be sure to still tell me whether I should start naming my chapters or not! And check out my profile, pretty please!

Thank you to all my reviewers and stuff! You're all really nice and I'm glad you like the story! See you next tiiime...)


	12. Chapter 12

(A/N: Here we are again! Thank you so much for reading this far. Let's get down to it, kids!)

"Hello? Zim?" called Tak, entering his base. There was no one in the living room.

Tak ran into the kitchen and flushed herself down the toilet. Once down in the lab, she switched off her disguise.

"MIMI!" she yelled out. Her SIR unit showed up immediately and saluted."Follow me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tak and MiMi hurried off to Zim's storage bay. In there were Tak's space pod and Zim's own Voot Cruiser. Tak sneered and dashed over to Zim's spacecraft. Once MiMi followed her inside of it, she began pressing a few buttons.

"Um, Tak, what are you doing?" asked Computer. Tak sat up in alarm.

"Uh, I'm..."

"Are you stealing Zim's ship?"

"...yes. Yes, I am."

"..."

"..."

"Okay. I'll open the roof..." Above Tak, the roof opened slowly and below her, the storage platform rose.

She couldn't believe how easy this was.

XXXXXXXSOONXXXXXXX

"Terrific work, GIR! Your kill count has increased sublimely! You have earned another piggy!"

"WHOO!"

"Yeah, you'll get it when we get home," Zim continued to march to his base with GIR close behind. The Irken had stopped on his way back there and called GIR to help him destroy a football team who had insulted his size. They even crippled a few of the cheerleaders.

"Let's just hope that Tak hasn't tainted any with her filthy, lying little hands," spat Zim. His eyes narrowed in anger just thinking about it.

Suddenly, Zim could no longer hear the squeak of GIR's steps. He looked back and saw the disguised robot staring at him.

"...what? GIR, let's go."

"Aw," GIR slowly walked up to Zim."Did the meanie lady make you all mad?"

Zim was hard put not to whimper as GIR pulled an innocently sad face of pure unadulterated concern.

"Ugh, GIR, stop it!" Zim turned away."It's no big deal!" The two walked again as he continued speaking."The Dib-worm has informed me of Tak's liiies! That she-beast! I should have expected that from HER..." GIR glanced up at his ranting master, half-listening."I mean! Sure, she's not as bad as I thought, she even...helped me a few times and that was nice..."

"Oh!" GIR suddenly paid attention."So you LIKE the mean lady? You think she's nice?"

"NO, I don't like her!"

"You LOVE her?"

"GIR! Stop filling my brain with your stupidity!" Zim walked a bit more briskly. GIR followed.

"Aww! My master's in love!" the android cooed.

"No, he's not!" Zim yelled back.

"Yes, he is!"

"GIR, shut u- -!"

"Hey! There she is!" GIR pointed skyward.

"Huh?" Zim looked up.

"HIII, MEANIE LADY!" waved GIR.

Up above, Tak and MiMi were flying at high speed in the Voot Cruiser. They didn't notice Zim and GIR on the sidewalk as they sped by. When they were out of sight, GIR continued waving.

"RAAAAAAUGH!" Zim shrieked in fury. He shouted after the Cruiser,"CURSE YOU, TAAAAAAAK! GIR! Come on, perhaps we can still catch them!"

He grabbed GIR by one of the puppy disguise's ears and hopped onto his back. Using the robot's jets, he rushed off after the ship.

"But what about my piggy?"

"Later, GIR!"

XXXXXXXCRUISINXXXXXXX

"Ahh, MiMi, this is it," Tak sat back and leaned against her seat."We'll finally be through with Zim, and GIR, and to a far larger extent, SKOODGE! We can go hypnotize some family in... England or something! And from there, we can eventually take the Earth. Isn't this just wonderful, MiMi?"

When Tak looked at her, MiMi nodded, but the SIR unit felt horrible inside.

At Zim's base, MiMi didn't have to fight. At Zim's base, MiMi didn't have to kill anybody. While it was in the nature of SIRs to be eternally loyal, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Even though she was different from everyone else in the base, GIR and Minimoose still treated her like a friend. They cooked with her. They watched television with her. They made her feel at home.

MiMi put on a face of determination and silently scampered to the rear of the Cruiser. Using her highly upgraded power arm, she busted the gas tank open and emptied it. When she heard beeping, she ran back to front of the ship.

Feigning panic, MiMi showed Tak the empty tank light.

"What?!" exclaimed her mistress."But it was full just a minute ago!"

With its last ounce of energy, the Voot Cruiser cleared a fence and then crashlanded in someone's lawn.

XXXXXXXZIM&GIRXXXXXXX

"DIB-STINK! Tak probably went to his house!" Zim pointed excitedly. GIR flew up to the door and Zim got off of his back."Ring the doorbell!"

GIR saluted and then held the doorbell down. After about thirty seconds of non-stop ringing, Professor Membrane answered the door. He stared down at the green kid and green dog. Finally, Zim smacked GIR's hand away from the doorbell.

"...can I help you?" asked Professor Membrane.

"Yes, hello, Dib-parent!" greeted Zim, smiling up at the professor."I was wondering I could speak to THE DIB." (Zim suddenly turned dead serious at the end of that sentence...)

"The Dib, the Dib..." Professor Membrane scratched his head in confusion."OH, you mean my son!"

"...YES!"

"Oh, well, go right ahead!" Before the professor could step aside, Zim and GIR just walked into the house through his legs."Be careful not to startle him, now! He's CRAZY!"

"Yeah, yeah..." replied Zim, not paying attention.

"And help yourself to any snacks in the fridge!" With that, Professor Membrane reentered his lab.

Zim and GIR stopped at that last thing he said. They grinned at each other.

XXXXXXXLATERXXXXXXX

"Last...bite..." Zim ate from the cupcake again."Okay, NOW we look for Tak."

In the seat beside him, GIR belched.

"What. Do you think. You're doing?" queried Gaz. Upon entering her kitchen, she found Zim and GIR surrounded by empty bags, wrappers and paper cups.

Zim managed to stand up and answer.

"I am nourishing myself, Dib-sibling!"

"It's Gaz...and why are you in my house?" Her eyebrows tightened.

"Huh. Oh, yeah, I was going to talk to Dib...oh, well! Better late than never! Where is he?"

"He's been gone for hours..."

"Doing what?"

"I don't know, I don't care," mumbled Gaz, heading over to the fridge."HEY!" She turned to face them."Who ate all the pizza?!"

But Zim and GIR had already left.

(A/N: Thank you, all my readers! I told you this chapter would be better, and hopefully you thought it was! Sorry, but... I probably won't update this for a few weeks...NOT BECAUSE I'M LAZY! Because I'm going to work on other stories! Imma write one for The Powerpuff Girls! LOOK OUT FOR THAT!

And also, let me know if you want me to give my chapters titles! Or if you don't! W'ever!

Well, anyway, be sure to check out my profiiile, review, fave, follow, ALL that swaza!

Until next time...

PS, GIR ate the pizza.)


	13. Chapter 13

(A/N: Man, I really can't stay away from this story! It's like...even though I _know _what'll happen next, I'm excited to find out! Heh, I'm so weird. Also, I hope people weren't thrown off by the changed description, it just seemed amateurish to me. Eh, I'm sure they weren't. Anywho, enjoy the chapter, sorry for the hiatus!)

Tak pulled herself onto her knees.

"Ow!" she cried out. As she was lifting herself, her left arm stung in pain.

Before she could inspect it, she heard a noise.

When she looked around, she noticed that it was nighttime. She was in a large, flat field of some sort, and the Voot Cruiser was still intact beside her. Not that it mattered, since it was out of fuel anyway.

From in front of her, MiMi emerged from a bush.

Now, going back to that noise...

"Disguise yourself, MiMi!" whispered Tak.

She and the SIR unit switched on their holographic disguises as the sound grew louder and closer.

Finally, a middle aged man stepped up with a flashlight. He had a gentle air about him. His auburn hair was cut neatly, he wore a white dress shirt and a concerned expression.

"Hello?" he said. Then his flashlight fell upon Tak and MiMi.

"Hello, good sir," Tak greeted in false innocence."My kitty and I were wandering around town and now we're lost in your yard. We would be eternally grateful if you would kindly show us the way out."

The man eyed Tak curiously. She kept fidgeting so that his attention was focused on her, not the extraterrestrial spacecraft that was a couple of yards away.

"Alright!" the man smiled kindly."Come on, stay close to me."

He turned and began walking away.

Tak was careful to keep a safe distance as she followed him.

"When he goes home, we sneak back in and get the cruiser," she whispered to MiMi.

The trio reached the gate that led off of the property. But just as the man was about to open the gate, he hesitated. Tak's face fell.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked him.

He turned to face her."What's your name?"

Tak was a bit surprised by his question, but she didn't show it and answered."Tak."

He knelt down to her level."Listen, Tak. My name is Ned. Tell me, do you have a home?"

Ned seemed to have genuine concern in his voice.

"Not particularly," answered Tak, glaring at the closed gate. All she wanted was to get out of there.

"Well, you could stay with me! I have dogs and ferrets and, like, six bathrooms. It could be great!" he offered.

That tore it.

Tak activated her hypnosis device at the left of her head. Suddenly, she had a splitting headache, and it showed. She gripped her head and groaned in agony.

You see, the hypnosis device had become quite damaged since it had been in not one, but two crashes, and this was the result. Tak could barely stand up.

Ned gasped."Are you okay?!"

He quickly lifted the girl onto his back and carried her into his mansion. Tak was too weak to even fight back.

And MiMi had no choice but to watch.

When they were out of sight, she slipped through the bars of the gate and scampered off.

XXXXXXXMEANWHILEXXXXXXX

Zim and GIR had spent all day looking for Dib. They made pretty slow progress, especially after GIR ran out of fuel.

"Augh, stupid Earth days, so short!" complained Zim as he ran, watching the moon rise."GIR, we'll have to head home soo- -!"

Zim had crashed into someone. He fell back, onto his tiny bottom.

"What the- -?!"

And, as you might of guessed, Zim had crashed into Dib. (A/N: Yayyy.)

"YOU! Earth creature!"

"Zim?!" exclaimed Dib."What are you doing here?!"

Zim stood up so that he could tower over the boy."Dib, you...! You! Where has Tak gone?!"

"Man, Zim, you have GOT to stop following her around..."

"My master loves her!" GIR chimed in, as he had finally caught up to Zim.

"What?!" Dib stood up, astonished.

Zim smacked GIR in the back of the head."Ignore him. Dib, I should have known you wouldn't know where she is. Always leaving your guard down and letting your foes escape, heh-heh..."

"But...you let her escape too..."

"YOU'RE LYING! Off we go, GIR!" With that, Zim and GIR dashed off.

Dib just stood there, relieved. Had Zim paid a little more attention, he would have noticed that Dib had just exited a Swollen Eyeball meeting. All his recent findings were in his backpack, and the Eyeballs were beginning to get more and more interested in Zim.

It was just a matter of time...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welcome home, son!"

So, Zim and GIR got back to the base, empty-handed.

"This is all Tak's fault!" cried Zim, pulling off his disguise."I should have known better than to trust that non-invader! Now she has my ship! The Tallest will decapitate me for losing it...! Oh, no..."

Zim then experienced a terrible vision...

_A procession of angry Irkens shouted death threats as Zim was led to the Control Brains. He was naked (besides his PAK) and the Tallest held him tightly by his arms and dragged him._

_"Invader Zim," spoke the Brain in the center."You have lost your only Voot Cruiser and it is nowhere to be found. The armada trusted you with this technology, and you abused it. You shall now be punished."_

_"No! Wait! I can explain!" Zim struggled in the Tallests' grasp."It was stolen!"_

_"By who?" asked Tallest Purple._

_Zim blushed and cowered."Um...Tak..."_

_At once, the entire procession, including the Control Brains and the Tallest, burst out laughing._

_Zim just stood there, shaking._

_Suddenly, everyone stopped laughing._

_"Okay, so!" announced Tallest Red."First of all, since you abused it too, your SIR unit will be destroyed!"_

_"Hi, Master!" GIR waved cheerfully from across the room. At once, he was blasted to bits by the Control Brains._

_"And now, your naked body will be decapitated!" declared Tallest Purple._

_The Irkens all applauded as Zim was dragged away. He was in too much shock to oppose._

_When he was sent to the executioner, he got kicked onto a platform. When he looked up, he saw under the hood they were wearing._

_Zim's executioner was none other than Tak. He gasped at the realization._

_Tak giggled and brought the blade down._

"NOOOOO!" screamed Zim.

"YEEEEEES!" GIR replied, next to him.

Zim snapped back to reality.

"Guh!" He shook his head vigorously, trying to forget what he just imagined."Well, I may as well prepare for Skool tomorrow..."

"What should I do?!" asked GIR excitedly as Zim headed for the kitchen.

"...you know what, GIR? Don't worry about it."

Zim entered his lab to ready himself for the rough day ahead.

(A/N: SOOoOO! I hope you liked the chapter! It feels great to work on this story again and I can't wait for you guys to read the next part! You know, interesting fact, some scenes in this story were inspired by random pictures that I drew. Like Zim spying on Dib and Tak at the doughnut place [although it was Bloaty's in the picture] or when Zim jumped into Tak's arms because of that freaky chihuahua. Sketching stuff like that beforehand really makes this story special to me.

Well, please review, fave and follow, check out my profile and have a great day!)


	14. Chapter 14

(A/N: WHOOOOOOOOOO, CHAPTER QUATOOOOOOOOORZE! BADABABABA I'M LOVIN' IT!)

When Zim entered his lab, he groaned. Skoodge was using his stuff again.

"I hate Mondays..."he grumbled.

Skoodge turned around."It's Tuesday, Zim."

"Same thing!"

"Hey! I know something that'll cheer you up! The Tallest actually called YOU this time!" Skoodge gestured toward the big screen."You didn't answer, so they left you a message. You want me to play it?"

Zim remembered his vision and shuddered.

"Guhh...I don't feel like talking to them right now..."

"WHAT did you just say?!" Skoodge asked, shocked.

Zim looked over at him, and his eyes widened."Right...that's right! I am letting my imagination get the better of me! Hahaha! Funny. Play the message, Skoodge."

Skoodge pushed a button on the dashboard, and the video message played. The two Tallests appeared on the screen.

"This is a recorded message!" announced Tallest Purple.

"They know that!" Tallest Red shoved his companion."Ahem! Attention, all invaders! And Zim."

"H-He's our 'special' little invader!" Purple quickly clarified. (A/N: Trying to keep up the charade, you sick bastard?)

"Yeah, uh, yeah," Red waved dismissively.

"Aww..." Zim blushed and clasped his hands together, smiling lovingly.

"Yeah..." Skoodge nodded.

"Okay, so...this is a recall on all the ships that we gave out," Red folded his claws behind his back.

"As it turns out, they are highly explosive when out of fuel," continued Purple.

"And we're not talking tiny explosions..."

"Hohoho, NO..."

"WE'RE TALKING DESTROY THE CITY EXPLOSION!" they finished together.

"..." Zim stared wordlessly.

"Ahaha! Oh, OH, I've wanting to do that all day!" laughed Purple.

"Nailed it!" Red gave Purple a high-five. Or I guess a high-two, in their case."So, if YOU have one of the Voot Cruiser models, we highly suggest you bring it back before it explodes."

"Then you can trade it in for one of these new ones!" Purple moved out of the way, revealing a shiny, new ship. It basically looked like Tak's, except a bit larger, and it was, of course, newer.

"Mhm. Have a nice day!" With that, Red ended the transmission.

"Wow. Today is just AWFUL," Zim deflated.

"Hey, it can't be ALL bad!" Skoodge smiled encouragingly.

Zim put his hands on his hips."Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?"

Just then, GIR came down the elevator. And he wasn't alone.

"MiMi's here!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dib hadn't fully thought it out at first, too much shock, I guess, but Tak was missing, and he was determined to find her. Then he would deal with Zim, and maybe even come clean about Tak's ship. The problem was, he didn't know where to look. So, he was IN Tak's ship, trying to see if there was something in there that could track her down.

Unfortunately, there wasn't. Dib felt a pang of regret. If he hadn't erased Tak's personality from the program, he might have been able to find her. But he knew it was for the best.

He had to get over her.

Dib let out a deep sigh, shut down the ship, and went inside.

(A/N: ...wow. That was boring. Let's get back to Zim, shall we...?)

XXXXXXXBACKTOZIMPLEASEXXXXXXX

"And here we are!" GIR concluded his explanation.

"Okay, that made NO sense," Zim turned to MiMi."Why don't YOU explain?"

MiMi hesitated, but then she switched off her cat disguise. Once she did so, she gestured toward her mouth area sadly.

"Hmm...perhaps you can type what you mean to say," Zim marched over to his computer as MiMi perked up. She followed him over and he got out of her way.

Zim read aloud as the SIR unit worked at the keyboard.

"'I have returned to regretfully inform you of a recent incident. My dearest mistress, Tak, was captured by a human. She and I were unable to stop this man, but I believe she is in...acceptable living quarters," read Zim."'Luckily, I was able to escape, but we must retrieve my mistress. I would be forever thankful if you would assist me in this endeavor.'"

MiMi finished her revelation and turned to Zim with pleading eyes.

"Ah..." Zim sucked his teeth. (A/N: I don't like phrasing it that way, 'cause it sounds gross, but I had no other way to express it.)"Well, MiMi, I really don't see any reason to help you, I'm afraid."

"But what about the lifeclock bombs?" questioned Skoodge.

"Eh, the what?"

"The lifeclock bombs, remember? The ones you put in yours and Tak's PAKs rigged to explode and stuff. She could be in trouble, therefore, you are in trouble."

"Ghhh! I hate it when someone other than me is right!" Zim stomped his foot.

MiMi typed: "Your ship is there as well."

"Well, THANK YOU for giving me all the more reason to go!" Zim praised MiMi sarcastically. He started putting on his disguise. GIR and MiMi did the same.

"Can I come?! PLEEEEASE?!" Skoodge begged them.

Zim looked at him quizzically."Are you willing to sacrifice your dignity and/or life for the fate of this operation, the need arise?"

"...sure!"

"Then yes. Now you just need a- -what?!"

MiMi had interrupted Zim by tugging on his tunic. She ran over to the keyboard and typed: "I can make a holographic one for him."

"Um...alright, then! Go do that!" The two walked away as Zim continued yelling."And GIR and I shall remain here and...do something! Else!"

GIR smiled.

"I want some cheese!"

(A/N: Ahh, sorry if it's short. I'll update again soon. Inspiration kind of struck me suddenly and I got to work, so...I hope you liked it, even though not much happened...

Well, please review, fave and follow! By the way, also let me know if you see any mistakes! Yes, even I make them. And please check out my profile!

Happy Halloween, homies!)


	15. Chapter 15

(A/N: I must say...I've been watching a lot of movies on the LMN channel, and...they SOMEWHAT influenced the following chapters. There. I said it. Somewhat. So, um, I hope you like the chapter, and continue to read!

Also, my server was having problems opening this, so it's a bit late, sorry!)

Dib tried to get his mind off of Tak, so he went off of to...do something else.

See what Zim was up to, of course!

He dashed off to his enemy's base.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How do I look, buddy?"

"Heh?"

Zim looked up at Skoodge, who was wearing his new holographic disguise.

He had yellow orange hair (it sort of looked like Zim's, except the cowlick was puffier) and pale skin. His face was speckled with freckles. His eyes were sky blue. Skoodge's sleeves, collar and pants were lemon yellow. The main part of his shirt was lime green, and his PAK was now a backpack. His boots were now white, and his gloves had been replaced by human hands. Although he only had six fingers total, he had a nose and ears; it was quite convincing.

GIR whistled in admiration.

"Heyyy!" whined Zim."Why does his disguise look better than mine?!"

MiMi shrugged.

Zim narrowed his eyes."ANYWAY. Let's get down to business."

He, GIR, Skoodge and MiMi got onto the elevator and rode up to the house level.

XXXXXXXJUSTOUTSIDEXXXXXXX

The quartet exited the base as Zim gave them some instructions.

"Okay. We go. We get Tak. WE GET MY SHIP. We trade it in to the Tallest for a new one. That's aaall we're doing. Got it? I don't want to waste a whole chapter on this," Zim informed them.

GIR raised his hand.

"GIR! It is very straightforward!" Zim told his servant, annoyed."What question could you _possibly_ have to ask?"

"Um...I do not know whether or not this is the best plan," grunted GIR.

"..."

"What if we get followed?" GIR asked his master.

Zim was surprised by GIR's sudden clear thinking."Stupid little GIR. We are off to get Tak, of all people, from some sort of smelly trailer in the middle of nowhere. Who would want to follow us?"

"I would!"

"AHH!"

Zim jumped in shock, as Dib had come out of nowhere.

"Dib! How long have you been there?! What did you hear?!"

"Well, I haven't been here THAT long. I was hiding in your shadow."

"Hm?"

"But I heard that you were planning to find Tak, and I'm going to follow you."

"HAhahahahahahahahahahaaa! Ohhh, you kill me," Zim wiped tears from his eyes. Then he turned to his nemesis and smiled villainously."You really do."

The last thing Dib saw was Zim's hand reaching for his face before everything went black.

XXXXXXXSOONXXXXXXX

"Ohh...what the...?!"

When Dib regained conciousness, he was being carried, and facing the sky. He tried moving his limbs and he discovered that his arms were tied tightly about his torso with rope. At least his legs were free. He was able to lean forward, where he saw GIR, who smiled at him.

Dib leaned backwards, and now upside-down, he saw Zim trailing behind MiMi.

"ZIM!"

Zim turned around. Smirking at Dib, he began marching backwards."Oh, Dib, you're awake. You came to sooner than I expected."

"What is this?! What are you going to do?!"

"Let's just say that by the time the Earth's sun sets, I shall be rid of you once and for all. Skoodge! Bring me the human! I will tell him of our plans..."

Skoodge walked closer to Zim and held Dib next to him.

"Uh-"

"Oh, that's just Skoodge. He just kind of lives in my basement," Zim introduced.

"Hi," Skoodge waved at Dib with his free hand.

"So, Dib-stink," continued Zim."Allow Zim to inform you of what is going to happen.

"MiMi is currently leading us to the member of your vile race that has Tak with them. Once we get there, we- or more specifically, you," Zim poked Dib in the nose."-are going to do whatever you have to in order to get her out. And after that...well...I'll take care of you myself."

Dib kicked in Skoodge's grasp."I don't understand! Why would you care what happens to Tak?"

"Ah. Ah. Oh, yeah! Tak stole my ship!" Zim recalled."And if we don't get it back, this city will soon be nothing but rubble!"

"And corpses!" GIR added.

"Yeah, and blood, don't forget the blood," said Skoodge, nodding.

"Yes, all of that," agreed Zim."So, you see, I'm not trying to be cruel, or...heartless, but- -"

"Yes, you are!" Dib interrupted."You want us all dead!"

"Is that really so wrong?" Zim shrugged."Zim is only doing his job. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to knock you out again."

"Right...how exactly did you do that last ti- -GH!"

Zim stuffed the sleep candies into Dib's mouth, and the boy was once again unconscious.

XXXXXXXFINALLYWITHTAKXXXXXXX

Tak had finally gotten control of her senses back, and she was astonished by her surroundings.

She lay upon a fancy couch in the living space of an exquisite manor. There was a fireplace to her left, crackling away. To Tak's right, there was a large window with lacey drapery, through which she could see the setting sun. She peered over the couch and saw a full mahogany bookshelf. Around the couch sat some smaller chairs and a nice little coffee table. Needless to say, it was quite the room to randomly find yourself in.

Tak pushed the maroon gossamer blanket off of her and sat up, rubbing her head. She made a note to herself to fix her hypnotism device. She couldn't afford to let something like that happen again.

Creaking erupted from the door in the corner. When it opened, ferrets and dogs flooded out of it.

"Oh, gross!" Tak exclaimed as they piled up on her. She struggled to shove them off.

"Feeling better?" asked Ned, carefully stepping in over the animals.

Tak just nodded her head.

Ned grinned and set a tray on the coffee table. It had a cup of strawberry tea and a plate of butter cookies on it.

Tak looked up at him. He stood up straight.

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled. Later, I can show you around the house," He headed for the door and started closing it.

"See you soon, cupcake."

He left.

"...'cupcake'?" Tak asked no one in particular.

One of the ferrets licked her cheek.

"...that's it. I'm getting out of here."

(A/N: ...what am I doing?! I mean, I know where this is going, but...ah. It's too late. Prepare for the next chapter. It's gonna be insane, okay? Don't say I didn't warn you.

Also, sorry if Skoodge's disguise seemed generic, I guess I just always pictured him that way. And...'sleep candies'? Really? What, is Zim drugging him? That was the cheapest thing ever. Okay, now I'm being way too critical.

Well, chapter quinze is done. Please review, fave and follow, and I'll see you next time.)


	16. Chapter 16

(A/N: Hi. It's me. That...lazy chick. I am lazy. I'm sorry I that I am lazy. Obviously, I have more time on weekends to do this, but...I try. I even worked on this at school!

But, here. It's the insane chapter I promised. Again. I warned you.)

"Are we almost there?" asked an impatient Zim.

MiMi looked back, nodded, and continued walking.

Zim was growing tired of following MiMi, and Skoodge was getting tired of holding Dib. And GIR was just kind of there.

Zim let out a sigh.

Tak was...frustrating. She wanted things her way or the highway. She was a thief. A kiss-up. And her LAUGH, ugh.

But for whatever reason, Zim didn't feel the same without her around now. There were only a few moments when he had admitted to enjoying her company, but now he had no choice. If this weren't only to get his ship back, Zim knew that he wouldn't have gone to rescue Tak. But he knew that he also wouldn't have forgiven himself for letting her get away.

"Hurry, hurry, HURRY!" yelled Zim."I don't have all day!"

XXXXXXXBACKWITHTAKXXXXXXX

For the last half hour, Tak had been trying to find a way out of the house.

She tried the vents, they seemed unbreakable.

She tried the walls, they were indestructable.

She tried the windows, and they were locked. And they didn't even have locks on them!

Of course, you're wondering why she didn't just try the doors. Well, whenever she went near one, either Ned would find her, or his weird pets would and start making a lot of noise.

So, Tak was currently trapped.

She sat upon a chair in the lavish kitchen as Ned prepared some supper. A bunch of ferrets circled about the chair legs below.

"Come on, MiMi, where are you?" she muttered to herself.

"So, what kind of food would you like?" Ned asked her.

"Oh, I have a sensitive stomach. Also, I'm not hungry."

"Come on, you have to eat something," He opened a cabinet.

From where she sat, Tak spotted a box of sandwich cookies in there.

"Hey. You can get me those cookies."

Ned faced her sternly and shook his head."Oh, no, no, no. You have eat a REAL dinner first."

"Wha...I don't want any! Look, if you're going to be that way, I'll get them myself."

Tak stood and kicked her way through the ferrets. She climbed up on the kitchen counter, as she didn't want to use her PAK legs in front of Ned, and reached for the box.

But, before she could grab it, Ned shut the cabinet door.

"Oh, no, you won't! No dinner, no cookies!"

"UGH!"

Tak leapt off the counter and began stomping away.

"Quit stomping!" she heard Ned shout after her.

"You don't tell me what to do!" Tak exclaimed. Who did this guy think he was?!

"That is IT, young lady!" Ned pointed upward."Go to your room, and don't you dare come out until I say so!"

Tak couldn't believe what she was hearing. This guy seemed so kind before. Now he was treating her like she was his unruly teenage daughter!

She looked down.

"...can I use the bathroom first?"

"Go ahead..."

XXXXXXXUPSTAIRSXXXXXXX

Tak hurried into the bathroom and shut the door; there was no lock. Of course, Irkens don't...use bathrooms. Luckily, there was a little window in there.

And it was open.

Tak looked about warily, then lifted herself up to the window with her PAK legs. She grabbed onto the frame.

"Ta-ta, Ned," she chuckled to herself.

Suddenly, loud barking sounded from behind her.

She hit her head on the window frame, then spun around.

A little dog had been hiding behind the toilet, and it had seen her trying to escape.

Before Tak could stop it from barking its head off, she heard Ned coming upstairs, and he was screaming her name.

In a flash, the man slammed the door open and saw her on the window sill, ready to jump.

"Uh..."

"TAK!"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her towards him.

"AH!" She kicked and scratched at him."Let go!"

"You're not going anywhere."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, this is the place?"

MiMi gestured toward Zim's ship, just past the fence.

"Alright, then," Zim did his evil grin.

"Wha...What the...?" muttered Dib.

"Dib. You've awoken at just the right time..." Zim stepped toward him.

"What? You're going to 'destroy' me now?" Dib did air quotes as best he could.

"No, filth boy, that comes after. Before we get the cruiser, we must infiltrate the shelter unit...GIR!"

GIR walked up and saluted, squeaking with glee. He took Dib from Skoodge and held him over his head.

"Hey, whoa, wait!" Dib looked down at the robot carrying him."What are you doing?!"

"HUMAN IN THE HOLE!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tak had been in a lot of tight situations.

She was trapped on Devastus during the blackout.

She was trapped on Planet Dirt for years.

She was trapped with Zim because of his stupid bombs.

But now, Tak was in a mansion, in a little room containing only a heater, a toilet, a mattress and a couple of boarded windows. There was minimal light coming in, and the door was locked.

Oh, and the worst part.

A chain around her ankle that was attached to the heater.

She tugged at it, shot a laser at it, even chewed it.

Nothing.

She sat on the mattress across from the door, beginning to doubt that she would be able to escape.

Through it all, she thought of Zim. This was all his fault. She remembered the times she had spent with him, all his crazy shenanigans. And looking back, it wasn't that bad. Skool was probably the worst part. Zim was a megalomanical, insane, moronic and obnoxious jerk...but he wasn't ALL that bad.

He was...something about him made Tak want to be with him again. Well, not for eternity, but just to see him. Maybe have one last good time with him.

And, of course, she missed MiMi.

She curled up into a ball and tried to clear her head.

So, you can only imagine her surprise when the room flooded with light and Dib came crashing through the window.

"OUCH!" he cried, covered in splinters.

"Dib?"

"Tak?!"

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" Without thinking, Tak gave Dib a hug.

His face turned red, but he managed to ask,"Wh-What happened?"

"Ah! No time to explain!" Tak pulled out of the hug and gestured toward the chain."Can you pick this lock?"

"Maybe I could if Zim hadn't...tied me up!" he tried, in vain, to use his arms.

Tak was relieved to hear that Zim had come, but she didn't show it.

Dib stopped wriggling and bent forward."Here! Maybe you can use my hair!"

"Um...good enough!" Tak took hold of Dib's hair scythe and tried picking the lock as painlessly as possible.

"Ow. Ow," she heard him mutter.

Soon, the chain was unlocked and Tak removed it from her ankle. Fortunately, she was also able to use Dib's hair to unlock the door.

"Jolly good!" she whispered as the door creaked open."Come on, we have to get out of here!"

"But what about- -"

"Whatever it is, it can wait!"

With that the two scurried off down the hallway and down the stairs.

"The front door should be just this way!" Tak called back to Dib.

They rounded a corner, and there was the exit, a couple of yards away. Dib and Tak made a mad dash for it, but before they could get there...

"Not so fast, honey."

Ned popped out from the right corridor holding up a gun, and he blocked the door.

Dib and Tak stopped in their tracks and tensed up.

"WHOA!" Dib eyed the man's weapon, astonished."Who IS this guy?!"

"Ned...calm down," Tak tried to soothe him."I've got to go."

"No, you DON'T!" Ned started to tear up."You don't know what I've been through! Get back into your room, missy!"

"Ned, I'm not your daughter..."

"Yes, you ARE! You are now! So, listen to me!" He cocked the gun.

"No..."

Ned lowered the gun a bit."My daughter...she didn't get to live like you. My wife took her own life. I'm not missing out on having a daughter again! I'M NOT- -"

Tak grabbed Dib's collar and hopped forward, smacking the gun out of Ned's hand. He stared, agape, as it flew into a nearby room.

Tak glared up at him.

"Now...to END you."

XXXXXXXOUTSIDEXXXXXXX

"Do you see them?" asked Skoodge.

"Yes...YES! Zim sees them!" Zim announced from atop Skoodge's head. He saw Dib and Tak heading for the fence.

GIR cheered, and MiMi looked pleased.

"HEY!" Zim called out to the pair."Get my ship out of there!"

Dib glanced over at it."How are we supposed to move THIS?"

"I have an idea," Tak said, out of breath.

Seconds later, she was using Dib's blade of hair as a lever.

"Geez! Your hair is REALLY strong!" she told him.

Eventually, she launched the cruiser into the air, but it landed on the fence and teetered there.

"...what now?!" Dib, his hair a mess, asked Zim.

"Hmm..." Zim thought."Let's huck rocks at it until it falls off!"

"Okay!"

So, Zim, Skoodge, GIR and Tak threw some rocks at it, laughing. It soon fell off of the fence and onto the sidewalk next to MiMi.

"Great!" said Zim."Skoodge, open the gate!"

"And then I refill the tank, right?" Skoodge held up a jug of the cruiser's fuel.

"What? No! We're going to get rid of it before it kills us all!"

"Aw..." GIR looked sad."I don't wanna get a new cruise ship...I like one we have..."

Zim got really pissed with GIR's whole "manipulative cuteness" thing."Fine! Alright! Fill the tank, Skoodge! Perhaps it's better this way so that the Tallest notice my...sentiment. I AM ZIM!"

"Hey!" Dib stopped Zim from talking to himself."What about us?"

MiMi opened the gate for them, and Tak gave her a pat on the head.

"It's great to see you again, MiMi," Tak smiled."Thank you."

MiMi nodded and her tail moved side to side. She was very glad to be reunited with her mistress.

As Skoodge and GIR refeuled the Voot Cruiser, Tak moved over to Zim. She felt as though she should thank him for coming all this way, and rescuing her (sort of). And although she didn't know it, Zim felt the same way.

"Ah..." She offered him her hand.

"What is this?!" Zim recoiled from it.

"Ugh, never mind, let's get the heck out of here!" Tak rolled her eyes.

The Voot Cruiser was ready to go, so Zim, Skoodge and GIR climbed inside. Tak was about to step in, but Zim shoved her out.

"Nah! You're not riding in here!" he told her."What, do you want Dib to get suspicious? You are never using this again! Now, be home soon. We have much to do."

Tak groaned and moved closer to MiMi.

"Well, bye, Dib!" Zim smirked down at him as the ship rose into the air."I suppose you helped me retrieve my ship, so you can live another day. SEE YA!"

The Voot Cruiser rocketed off as the sun finally set.

"Yep!" Tak waved at Dib."Bye!"

With another wave of her hand, she and MiMi disappeared.

Dib was left standing there.

"Hey! Wait! I don't know how to get home from here! And couldn't you have untied me first?! HEEEY!"

(A/N: Finally. Finished. Some quick things.

This is SO not over.

Some other big stuff is going to happen soon.

Don't worry, Dib will get home eventually.

Sorry for any mistakes.

Let's just say that Tak "took care of" Ned.

This was heavily based off of the movie "Her Maternal Obsession".

I think I should raise the rating.

Zim and Tak are starting to have feelings for each other.

Whew...please review, fave and follow, I love you all!)


End file.
